Experiments
by Clzh and Clzh-x
Summary: This is a collection of Pokemon Drabbles, One Shots, and other Short Stories. Primarily LucasXDawn/Fortuneshipping, though others to do appear from time to time.
1. Grounded

This sucks. I can't believe this happened. To _me_, of all people! …I suppose this'll be a great story to tell my kids in the future.

Right now, though, I'm not feeling so mature. I'm sure _she's_ aware by now that the story, thanks to the vast power of the internet, and the snitches that I get to work with, has circulated at least half of all Shinou by now. Everyone's having a good laugh, I'll bet. I mean, _come on!!_

Oh well, I guess I should get over it. After all, it is rather funny.

Then again, it's not something to be proud of, either. **For crying out loud**, how many teenagers do _you_ know get sent to their rooms… by their own girlfriends?


	2. First Date

Was it really worth it?

Really, the whole thing ought to have been postponed. But, in retrospect, nobody really knew that it would've been ruined by a Rain Dance gone out of control. Or the various Thunder strikes.

Was it really worth it?

They were both sopping wet by the time they got to the restaurant. Now, it wasn't the ritziest or fanciest place in town, but they had been hoping that their meals would be delivered exactly as ordered. But _no_… in addition to the fact that half the things his date had asked to be removed from her meal were present (in _excess_), _his_ plate wasn't even from the same page he'd ordered off of! Perhaps the most gratifying moment of that "dinner" was when he turned around and, in full view of every other patron PLUS the manager, beaned the waiter in the head with a two poké tip.

Was it really worth it?

The movie he had taken her to was right at the climax of the story when lightning struck the _freaking _theater. The patrons were plunged into darkness. His partner had panicked, and in an attempt to reassure her, he'd tried to grab her hand and hold it still. He missed.**Badly** He felt his cheek. Still a little raw.

Was it really worth it?

By the time they had gotten out of the theater, the Rain Dance had turned into a rain_storm_. By the time they got to their neighborhood, they were wet, tired, hungry, and not exactly in a pleasant mood with one another. Since the closest place was Rowan's lab and he had a key, he let them both in. They had no desire to stay out in the cold mud.

Was it really worth it?

Once they were inside, they dried themselves off. Once while this was happening, they looked at each other. She was ringing out her sable hair, and despite the fact that she had mud on her face and that she was glowering at him, he felt something bubble up inside of him. He couldn't help it, and burst out laughing. It wasn't long before she joined in. He had offered to cook her dinner, since they had left the diner in a hurry without eating. Rowan's kitchen was severely under stocked, so he offered to make her popcorn instead, maybe watch a movie.

Was it really worth it?

About halfway through the movie, she had attempted to surprise him. However, do to the fact that she caught him off guard, he turned to ask what she was doing. Several things happened very quickly:

-Her miscalculations came to fruition, and she jabbed him in the eye with her nose.

-In pain, his hands flew up to tend his eye, and accidentally clipped her on the chin.

-Continuing the chain reaction, her lower jaw flew up, and combined with her upper jaw to crush her tongue.

-Professor Rowan walked through the door, observing the teenagers thrashing in pain.

-Lukas, caught between attending to his eye and attending to Dawn, attempted some strange maneuver that resulted in him falling off the couch.

-Dawn, because her failed "sneak attack/first kiss" effort had placed her in a precarious position, followed suit.

-The good professor, who had _not_ gotten to his place in life by getting easily freaked out, continued walking to his office, as if nothing had happened.

Was it really worth it?

As Lukas smiled softly at the magnificent woman in his arms, she cooed softly, and snuggled up against him.

Yes, indeed. It was most certainly worth it.


	3. Self Esteem

"…And you, yes, you, can lose the ugly love handles in 7 days or less with our clinically proven system! All you have to do is call this toll-free number…"

Lukas rolled his eyes. Another commercial. Oh, Joy. These things were _so __**stupid**_.

'_Look like you belong on Bay Watch by taking __our product_' was the message on every FREAKING one! Yes there were _some_ good ones, but these were often lost among the torrent of cow feces… oh, no.

"Dawn?" Lukas asked tentatively. The female being addressed squeaked in surprise, and her hands shot away from her hips. She tried very hard to pretend she _hadn't _been pinching her skin and frowning at it.

"You aren't going to actually _buy_ that junk, right?"

"Well…" Dawn blushed. "You've been way to nice to say anything, but I know I've gotten a little chubby…"

Lukas sighed in total exasperation. _Why _on earth did all women do this?!

"You aren't serious."

Dawn looked at him.

"Look, you don't need to worry. You are _not_ chubby."

"Are you implying that I'm fat?!"

"No!" Lukas rolled his eyes. Did that commercial _totally brainwash _her?

"Then… what exactly are you saying?"

"That you look _fine!_ There is no need for you to lose any weight whatsoever."

Dawn still didn't look convinced. Lukas sighed, and got up from his corner of the couch. He crouched down in front of her, blocking her view of the television.

"Look at me." Dawn looked down and away.

He cupped her cheeks in his hands, and pressed his forehead against hers. She blushed slightly.

"You don't have to buy into that trash, Dawn. You look great _as you are_!"

Dawn looked up at him, and he stroked her cheeks with his thumbs.

"But, I still…"

Lukas shushed her. He broke eye contact only to turn off the box. He gave her a small Eskimo kiss.

"Tell you what. If you're that concerned, why don't you and I go get some exercise? Go play basketball or football, maybe?"

Dawn smiled sweetly at him.

"Thanks, hon." She giggled. She kissed his cheek and disappeared up the stairs, saying something about changing out of her skirt. Lukas walked over to pick up his basketball out of the corner of the room, smiling.

"Heya, Lukas?" called his girlfriend, who had reappeared at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah?" he called back, walking to the base of the stairs. On the way, he smiled lovingly. There was absolutely nothing in the world that he would change about her…

"Do these make my butt look big?"

…Except that.


	4. Bakery

"Silly girl."

Ooh, she _hated_ when he called her that! EVERY time she messed up, he gave her that name. And with that forsaken smile of his always taunting her. And it happened daily!!

Today's episode had been an attempt to bake a batch of cookies. Good ol' Professor Rowan had lent her the use of his kitchen in exchange for letting him have the first pick.

She had followed the recipe to the letter, but somehow… Ah! She read the missed instruction. How on earth did she miss that?!

"_You forgot to preheat the oven."_

She winced, the words sounding like nails on a chalk board...

She waited for his reminder of her mistake, but it never came. She looked at him, noticing the cookie that he was offering her.

He waited for a few seconds and then held it closer. She blinked twice.

"Professor Rowan said he wanted the first of _your _batch, not mine."

Dawn nodded slowly, not quite understanding why Lukas was being so nice to her.

"Silly girl." He rolled his eyes. He lifted the cookie to her lips. "Eat it. Chocolate does wonders for bad moods."

He smiled as he saw her face light up at the taste of the melting chocolate.

"This… is _excellent_! How'd you…?"

"My own recipe. It took me years to get it right. There was a time that whenever I entered the kitchen, all the other assistants suddenly had to do work in the opposite side of the lab."

She giggled at the image of destruction he proceeded to describe.

"You should've seen it: total batter chaos."

His eyes took on a softer look.

"You did good for a first try."

She smiled at this. "Thank you."

They looked at each other contemplatively for a moment. A small chime went off.

"Your cookies are done." He pulled them out for her and set them on the counter. "Let's call the professor, he _did_ want the first choice."

"Don't call him yet, let them cool!" She didn't want Rowan in here. Not yet.

"I don't think he'll mind."

"Just leave them."

"Uh… can I ask why?"

She smirked at him. She smirked harder at his next expression.

"Silly boy."

Hm… his lips tasted like chocolate.


	5. Photo Club

Lukas looked at the strip of photographs in his hand. These were _sad, sad_ photos.

He glared at the evil carnival booth with the hanging curtain. Dawn took him here last year. He went for her sake then, and he was going for her sake now. He would never go near one of these things again of his own desire, ESPECIALLY since last year.

_The 1__st__ of the photos was innocent enough. At least, intention-wise. They had been trying to make funny faces. Not that hard, except for the fact that Dawn's "funny face" caused her to accidentally elbow him in the nose. And thus the resulting image of Dawn, still pulling the ends of her mouth to the sides, looking awkwardly at her boyfriend, attempting to find out the damage she had caused. Lukas was clutching his face, cross-eyed._

_The 2__nd__ photo of the chain reaction was taken while Dawn attempted to place a bandage on her lover's nose. However, the exact moment that the photo was taken could easily be seen as suggestive in nature, except for the fact that Lukas had shoved two fingers up his nose to stem the blood flow. He particularly remembered that moment, because, when they got out, Professor Rowan said that it looked like they needed some help, but he didn't want to come close in case he would've interrupted something private._

_Again, the 3__rd__ photograph was innocent enough… if the prior two hadn't happened first. Dawn was smiling sweetly at the camera, while Lukas was attempting to cover his face as to hide the blood. The results weren't very pretty._

_Now, after each shot was taken, it was displayed up on the screen. And Dawn, after seeing the 3__rd__ photo, rounded on her boyfriend to demand an explanation for his pose, and why on earth was he not taking the photo seriously?! (As many men are surely aware, this is in no way the case with these types of things). To emphasize her point, she stomped her heel onto his foot, just in time for the 4__th__ photo to freeze his agony in time for ever._

_In his pained reaction to both his nose __**and**__ his foot, he proceeded to attempt a complicated maneuver (who can guess what'll happen?), and smacked his beloved in the eye. As any expert in the field of pain can tell you, it is never fun to be hit in one's eye, and any forceful contact can hurt immensely, which was why her eyes began to water (she refused to admit she cried; "Perish the thought!"). Forgetting his own severe injuries, Lukas immediately apologized and attempted to comfort her. The demonic Photo Club booth took its final photo: Lukas with a shattered and bloody nose giving a hug to Dawn, who had developed a black eye._

Lukas remembered last year's escapade with a rather pungent feeling. He did not like photo booths.

"Heya, Luke! Come on!"

Snapping out of his reverie, Lukas reluctantly joined his girlfriend behind the curtain. Perhaps he was dragging this too far. Maybe last year was a fluke, and this year would be different…

… As Lukas clutched the photos in one hand, and his gut in the other, he swore he would never be so naïve. Ever again.


	6. Lighthouse

The waves lapped softly at her bared feet, leaving behind small traces of sand between her wriggling toes. She sighed gently as her soft white dress fluttered in the salty wind, a stark contrast to her sun-blessed skin. Dusk was settling, and she knew that, far away in Olivine, Amphy was already shining its radiance out into the ocean. Above her, Wingull and Pelipper squawked and screeched at one another, every so often dive-bombing a couple for their food.

"Filthy little buggers," came a new, scathing voice.

Jasmine smiled in slight surprise, recognizing the voice, but didn't look at its source.

"Oh, I don't know," she answered quietly. "They're kind of cute, I think. They don't appear naturally in Olivine, so they're kind of a novelty."

The redhead who had joined her didn't say anything for a moment.

"…I'm kinda surprised you came all the way out here," he finally spoke.

"Why's that?" she wondered.

"You're so loyal to that bald sheep," he answered. "I didn't think you would ever leave its side."

Jasmine paused for a moment. She faced him, smiling as he attempted to not take notice. His attempt at aloofness wasn't working so well.

"Amphy can handle itself, silly goose," she giggled. He rolled his eyes at her. They just stood in silence for a few seconds.

"…Thank you for following me all the way out here, though," she continued. "It was sweet of you to come check up on me."

Instantly, the redhead's tough-guy complex shattered, and his cheeks turned brighter than his hair. The Olivine Gym Leader suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug, cutting him off mid-splutter.

"Thank you," she whispered again with a smile. He looked at her, and calmed down noticeably, although his cheeks still were a little red… not necessarily from the cold. He shoved his hands into his pockets, looked away to the lights of Sunyshore, and muttered softly, "Well, someone had to make sure you were alright. Knowing you, you would've hurt yourself."

Jasmine beamed at him, and he refused to meet her eyes. He shuffled around in his pack for a moment, and drew out a small, clumsily wrapped box.

"I… I got you something." He offered her the small package. Jasmine blushed as she took the unusually shaped gift from his hands. It wasn't like him to get her, or _anyone_, for that matter, a gift. She smiled gratefully at him for a moment, and then slowly unwrapped the long object.

She gasped, and ran her tapered fingers across the surface of the intricately-designed Lighthouse miniature. Every color and mark matched the original article down to the minutest detail. She looked up at the teenager with locks of flame, and he went red in the face self-consciously.

"Just so you wouldn't forget this place," he explained, gesturing vaguely to Sunyshore City.

Jasmine smiled at him as she clutched the small model to her breast. She walked over to him and looked at him with a very special gaze.

"Oh, I don't think I'll ever forget this, Kamon," she murmured as she advanced on him suddenly.


	7. Let the Music Play!

The stage, the lights, the crowd.

_He lived for it. It was his dream._

The song, the dance, the rhythm.

_He was unstoppable._

The tempo, the steps, the music.

_It was all he lived for._

The curtain, the people, the passion.

_It was time to begin._

"Let the music play!"


	8. Flowers For a Smile

Lucario watched its trainer look up at the sky forlornly. Poor thing. She was only a child, but she had to grow up so quickly. She, as Gym Leader, was responsible for many of the goings on of the city, a sort of political leader. Her father loved her very much, but was unable to do anything for her; she wouldn't let him. Her sense of independence was very strong, and for a small child, that's a very sad and scary thing. He hadn't seen her smile in ages. Grin at a challenge, or its consequent victory, yes; chuckle or giggle at a joke, maybe. But smile? Just a plain and simple smile? No, he hadn't seen one of those since he was a small Riolu, and she was still a little girl. Very little.

"Okay, Lucario," she said to him, standing up from her meditative position. "It's time for us to…"

Lucario blinked at the sound of the Gym's traditional-style sliding doors. Well, well, well… it hadn't seen this trainer in a while. As Lucario studied the newcomer, it noticed something odd. Last time, the trainer had run around like a beheaded chicken. This time, however, he walked haltingly, nervously.

"Uh, hi… Maylene," the new boy said, awkwardly fidgeting with his orange-and-white striped shirt. "You probably don't recognize me…"

"Damion of Twinleaf Town," Maylene cut him short.

"…Well, maybe… you do. But that's not the point!" His voice took on a panicked edge. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I… uh, well… _here._" With that, he shoved a small object into her hands, and retreated almost to the door.

"Damion!" Maylene's voice echoed through the room. The small, blonde trainer paused, and anxiously looked back at her. She smelt the small blossom he had placed in her hands, and –Lucario registered a double take– smiled sweetly at the boy. "Thank you!"

Damion shrugged nonchalantly, despite his obviously colored face. "No— no prob!! I just thought, well… I was in the neighborhood, and…"

Maylene had crossed over to the boy, and gave him a small hug. Lucario wondered if he would pass out from the overflow of blood to his head.

As he recovered, Damion tugged at his scarf. "Uh… I was wondering, maybe you and I could, er, go take a walk… or something? You know, just… together?" He finished his sentence with a cough.

Maylene looked at him, and smiled. "A walk… would be nice. I'd like that." She smiled and tucked the blossom in her hair, taking Damion's free hand, causing him to splutter incoherently. Lucario followed them outside, but watched them from a distance as they descended the steps leading to the dojo. He leapt to the top of the dojo's roof and watched them as they turned the corner, and they disappeared from view.

Lucario had seen many things in its life. But seeing Maylene smile was an extra special treat.

He needed to thank the other boy, Lucas, for arranging it.


	9. Keep Away

The fields around the peaceful town of Sandgem were of a warm, serene climate. Light sunrays colored the tall grasses a soft green, while a soft breeze caused waves to ripple through them. It was a tranquil setting, one of calm and inviting relaxation.

And it was this peaceful summer setting that a group of three had decided to ruin with their shenanigans.

"Come back here, dangit!!"

Lucas chased after his companions, more specifically the one who'd stolen his favorite hat, his red beret. "Dawn! Give me back my hat!" He paused at the top of the hill and attempted to catch his breath while hunching over.

Dawn, who had also tired out from the running, was too proud and stubborn to give up (that was her half of the "love equation", after all­– Lucas was the calm and steady one). "Nuh uh! You gotta catch me, first!" To emphasize her point, she stuck her tongue out at him.

The male teenager sighed, and began jogging down the hill. Slowly, he began to pick up speed, traveling faster and faster. Dawn had also started to run, but as she didn't plan her usage of her energy earlier, she was in much worse shape. All that running around had taken its toll. In an instant, Lucas had gathered her into his arms, and swung her around in a full circle, to her gleeful delight (hey, she was good with adapting to new situations). There was a small pause in which they simply stood in the field, not doing much else apart from enjoying each other's presence. Dawn sighed happily, and nestled her head against Lucas' shoulder.

"…So, can I have my hat back?" Lucas asked with a small smile.

Dawn didn't answer at first, considering her options. Then she heard a small rustle in the grass behind her. Grinning suddenly, she kissed Lucas' nose, and used the distraction to toss the hat over her shoulder, where it was snatched from the air by a small hand that disappeared into the brush. There was a girl's giggle, and suddenly the hat was gone.

"Aw, Sis!" Lucas called out. He would've chased her, but there were two problems. First, Dawn's arms were wrapped around his midsection, and second, he was far too tired to do anything about it. He sighed and turned to Dawn who smiled innocently back at him.

"So, whaddaya have to say to _that_, Mister Smarty-Pants Head Assistant?" Lucas sighed— this whole episode had been a ploy to get him out of the lab to play out in the sun. Needless to say, it worked.

"Want to know what I think?"

"_Maybe_," she trailed off cutely.

"Are you sure?"

"Hmm… Yes!"

"Well…" Lucas trailed off. Suddenly, he kissed her nose, eliciting a squeak of surprise from his beloved. It took Dawn a moment to realize that _her_ favorite hat, a white woolen cap, was missing from her head.

"_Lucas!_" she whined playfully, reaching feebly for her hat. "Gimme back my hat!"

Suddenly, Lucas was a good five feet away from her. He smiled, nonchalantly twirling the cap on his index finger.

"You're gonna have to catch me, first!" And suddenly, the situation was reversed. Lucas was running away from both his girlfriend and his younger sister (who had reappeared).

Professor Rowan sighed contently as he enjoyed a tall, cool glass of lemonade. He nodded to Johanna, Dawn's mother, who had come to visit the Labs along with her teenage daughter (who had obviously come for the Head Assistant). Soon, Lucas' parents, fellow researchers, also appeared and the group of four enjoyed a peaceful chat about the (hopeful) things to come. Suddenly, a blur raced passed them into the Labs, followed by a beset Dawn.

"Come back here, dangit!!"


	10. Café Solo

As Solana staggered into the Ringtown Ranger Station's kitchen, she surveyed the sole occupant with a look bordering on disgust. "How can you _possibly_ be so cheerful at _four in the morning_?"

Without waiting for a reply, she trudged over to the cheap coffee maker. She groaned as an inky black liquid trickled into her mug, and then she stumbled back over to her associate, slumping down into the plastic chair beside him. She drank from the mug, set it down heavily, and collapsed against her best friend, groaning.

Lunick chuckled. "Morning, Sleepy Head," he said.

She moaned sleepily. "You can't be human. No one could possibly get by on the amount of sleep you do."

"This, coming from a woman who drinks liquid ash?" Lunick quipped.

The turquoise-haired woman would've glared at him, if she had the strength. Instead, she defiantly grasped the brown mug and slurped loudly from it. "I don't get you," she said finally. "Are all the people as up-and-at-'em as you, down in Hicksville?"

"Yup," Lunick said, his sunny grin a stark contrast to the dark and moody expression of the woman who was using his arm as a pillow. "I could say the same thing about you," he said after a moment.

"Hunh?" Solana slurred groggily into the steaming mug she had just taken another sip from.

"I don't get why you drink that… stuff."

Solana blinked at the coffee. "Because."

"Because… what?"

"Just 'cause."

"Well, put some milk or cream in it, why don't you?"

Solana blanched, sticking out her tongue. "Yuck! No, thank you."

"Why not?"

"Coffee is meant to be black and bitter. Only wusses put in sugar or stuff in it."

Lunick chuckled again, and went back to the small novel he'd been perusing when his best friend came in. Solana looked up as he began to laugh again.

"What now?"

Lunick wiped a mirthful tear from his eye. "Oh, nothing."

Solana raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh, sure…"

Lunick looked at her, giving her his infamous Country-Boy Grin. She rolled her eyes, and turned away, before he could see the blush she got whenever he smiled at her. She slurped from her coffee, and did it once more, only louder, when she saw the grimace he got from the noise.

"Could you _not _do that?"

She did it once again, enjoying very much the fact that it grated on his ears. "That's payback for you being so dang happy at a time when every normal person should be asleep in bed."

"You're awake, too, Sol," he reminded her cheekily. "Does that mean you're abnormal, too?"

She shrugged. "This is the only quality time I get to spend with you, at least in a manner that won't allow people…" here she disguised the words "Murph" and "Aria" in a fit of coughing, "…to start rumors. Again."

"Sure…" Lunick chuckled, playfully poking her in the ribs. In response, she smacked him lightly on the shoulder, and he flicked her on the nose. He immediately backed off, however, when she threateningly placed the coffee mug to her lips.

"What do you have against coffee, anyway?" she asked.

"It stunts your growth."

"You know that's an old wives tale."

"It tastes nasty."

"Nobody drinks it for the taste; they go out and get frappucinos if they want _tasty_ coffee."

"Why don't you?"

"Like I said, I prefer my coffee black. Next reason?"

Lunick rolled his eyes as Solana smiled cheekily at him. He grinned back and whispered in her ear, "If you want to know the truth, it's because I fear the prospect of stealing a kiss from you when your breath smells like black coffee."

Solana's eyes widened, and she stared after him as he walked to the door. He turned back to look at her shocked expression. "I'm gonna go outside and watch the sunrise."

It took a few seconds for Solana's brain to reboot after the startling revelation. "Wait for me!" she cried as she poured the last of her coffee down the drain.


	11. Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Wally blinked as he looked up at the midnight sky above the Battle Frontier. Tonight was a great night to be stargazing, especially around the Battle Palace . There were no lights – at least none that caused sky glow – allowing the onlookers to view the night sky with no problem.

"Oh, I _knew_ this was a bad idea!" a voice below him whimpered. "_Stupid Greta_ and her _stupid dare_!"

Wally looked down from his perch. Beneath him, a girl with messy lavender hair – a bit like his, really… except for, well, _his_ was green– was hugging her arms around her waist, shivering as she stood against the tall tree that Wally himself was perched in. He blinked and then leapt down from the thick branch he had been sitting on.

This caused two things to happen. First, Wally turned and smiled happily at the newcomer, introducing himself. Second, the girl in question gave out a blood-curdling shriek, and kicked out at him, landing in a rather noticeably weak point, effectively flooring him.

Wally groaned in pain, and rolled over, his eyes watering as he rode it out. The girl gasped as the realization hit her like a ton of bricks, and she rushed over to the fallen boy. "Are you okay?" she asked fearfully, scared that she had hurt him. He nodded, wincing, and after a few minutes, sat up slowly, aided by the teenage girl. With another groan, he shakily stood up.

In the darkness of the night, he barely recognized her. "Anabel?" he wondered. When she looked confusedly at him, he grinned weakly. "It's me, Wally!"

"_Wally?_ Oh, wow, I didn't… If I'd known–!!"

"It's okay. It's okay! Don't worry; it's my fault for startling you, anyway." Wally sighed and leaned against the tree. The Salon Maiden approached him.

"I'm sorry about that."

Wally grinned. "So, what are you doing out here, anyway? Come to look at the stars?"

Anabel shivered. "I wish; I didn't want to be here, but Greta dared me, and…"

"It's a beautiful night out! You don't want to experience it?"

"No! I have other duties to attend to!" she protested weakly.

"Duties that you put on hold for a dare?" Wally's question was more of a statement.

"…Okay, fine! I'm having a sleepover with Greta and Lucy! Greta dared me to come out here for a half-hour."

"And that's a problem… why?"

Anabel looked down for a minute. "It's a juvenile reason. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Are you afraid of the dark?"

Anabel stared at the green-haired boy in shock. "How did you…?"

Wally shrugged, and chuckled. "Lucky guess."

Anabel shivered again; the night air was cold, and she was wearing pajamas and a bathrobe! She blushed, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden. Wally noticed what she was wearing, too, and blushed even deeper. He had always thought Anabel was pretty, but tonight was a bit too much.

Up in the higher branches of the tree, a Noctowl hooted. Its resonant tone carried over the area, and Anabel, derived of any other form of protection, leapt into Wally's arms. Awkwardly, he held her until she regained her senses.

"Maybe you should just lose this dare," he suggested.

Anabel shook her head softly. "I... I want to do this. To prove it to myself that I _can _do this."

Wally nodded thoughtfully. "Any reason why?"

Anabel paused before answering. "When I was young, about six years old, my mom and dad took me camping. We found a nice place to stay, and that first night, Dad and I went searching for firewood. I got lost, and it got dark, very quickly. I couldn't see very well... and I upset a pack of Ursaring." She looked down. "I was so scared; they would've _killed_ me!

"Dad saved me, and we all went home at my plea, despite the fact that we had planned out a whole week."

Wally nodded again, and Anabel looked up at him, her eyes tired. "Ever..." she broke off in a huge yawn. "Ever since then, I've been trying to stay out at night, to no avail. This is another try. And I _will_ suceed!" she finished with passion. She screamed again when the Noctowl hooted at them.

Wally's ears were ringing. "Sorry," Anabel apologized sheepishly. "I'm one of the best trainers around, but..."

"It's not a problem, Anabel," Wally reassured her. "Everyone's afraid of something."

She blushed at his warm smile. "If you want," he offered. "You and I can watch the stars together. It'll take your mind off of things."

She considered it and nodded, blushing when he offered her his arm. After she accepted his invitation, he lead her down to the south border of the Frontier, and they just watched the stars. Together.


	12. Childish Folly

Brendan Birch stared up at the swirling, gray clouds of winter. The snow slowly fell around him, forming a white blanket that coated the ground. The trees of Littleroot had all gained a slight frost coating. He sighed softly, admiring the way his breath froze on contact with the chilled air, sending a light mist of ice dust floating away.

It was cold. Not that it needed to be said, but still, there was some small alleviating joy in the fact that he felt completely comfortable with the "childish" observation. Some of the wisest people he knew were children, unbound by the shame and inferiority that such a mark would elicit in the adult world. Besides, it didn't matter anyway, no one was here to bother him about it. He hummed a semi-random tune, and then burst out into full warble, strolling jauntily through a few feet of snow.

"I should've known you'd be out here." So much for not being bothered. "Who else but you would be singing some random tune out in the middle of three-feet-deep snow?"

He smiled warmly at the newcomer. "Is there anything particularly _wrong_ with that?"

"You look like a fool." Apparently, there was.

"To who? You're the only one out here, well, besides yours truly, of course."

"Well, yeah, but… _why_ would you want to do something that… _childish_?"

Brendan smiled warmly again. He approached the person with whom he was conversing. "Last time I checked, I didn't need a reason to express joy; I simply felt like singing to myself. Is that so wrong, May?"

The brunette flushed at his close proximity to her. "Well, no… I guess not…"

"Then why do you make it seem like it is bad? Is it something worthy of contempt? Why is it that childishness is synonymous with immaturity? Children aren't criticized for their harmless follies, are they? So why should adults who simply want to _harmlessly _enjoy themselves be criticized for _immaturity_?" Brendan approached her with the question that shamed her, even though his tone was that as if he were posing a simple question.

"I don't know, I…!" May looked away, unable to find an answer to Brendan's question. She hated how he always did that, asking ridiculously simple questions (which he expounded on, yet always managed to bring his argument home to utter simplicity) that she found herself unable to answer. Well, no, she didn't hate him or his actions; she hated how she was unable to answer them.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Brendan said apologetically. He bent over at an awkward angle; if she wouldn't face him, maybe he could put his face in her line of sight. He gave her a silly smile that made her giggle softly, and suddenly she remembered why she was out here.

"I…uh, I made something," she whispered softly, but since they were so close together, he could hear her, anyway. He blinked interestedly, and stood up straight, as she drew a bundle of cloth forward from behind her back. "It's a muffler. I… I hope you like it," she finished, rather lamely in her own opinion. This was an awkward change of atmosphere.

Brendan blinked, a happily surprised smile crawling its way along his face. He looked up at her, and gave her a sweet, simple, and sincere "Thank you" before trying to wind the thick, woolen material around his neck and shoulders. He sighed happily as he felt it nuzzle his body snugly. "It's warm. Thank you again." He blinked and looked down as he felt something trailing against the wet leg of his black pants.

He bemusedly wondered how he should address the fact that the ends of the muffler were now trailing down his leg, almost reaching the snow. "Meant for double thickness?" he wondered.

He looked at May, who had gone from being rather bashful to being so red in the face that it couldn't possibly have been from the cold. She took one of the long ends of the cloth, and twiddled it in her fingers. "Well, I… I know it's really long, and awkward, but I meant it that way. It's supposed to be like that."

Brendan looked at her interestedly, waiting for her to continue.

"I made it that way because I hoped… that… that…" she slowly wound the drooping cloth about her shoulders, and did the same with the opposite end. "Maybe… _we_ could wear it… together. Like a…" Her voice cracked several times during her explanation, and it squeaked a little at the end. She blushed harder and didn't finish.

"A couple?" he finished softly. She nodded violently, too flustered to speak.

Brendan smiled very sweetly at her, and she couldn't help but flush harder under his tender gaze. His face was a light red, too, and she felt such sheer joy when he leant in to whisper his tender affirmative, she didn't mind in the slightest when she let out a squeal of delight that could easily be classified as childish.


	13. Hell Hike

Lucas laughed, his face vibrant with excitement, as he trotted quickly up the rocky path. He leapt atop a boulder and looked back down, chuckling when he saw Dawn struggling to follow, her duffel seriously weighing her down. She saw him grin at her, but before she could complete the circuit from coming up with an retort to actually insulting him, she found herself relieved of the strain of toting the bag. Lucas beamed at her, slipping the shoulder strap on, and continued upward and onward, leaving her standing there with her mouth hanging open.

It took her a few moments to realize what had happened. She blushed, and resumed following the boy who had dragged her out of her sleeping bag at _FOUR IN THE MORNING_. They (he, she, and Damion, who Lucas let sleep because he said something about Damion probably not appreciating it) had decided to spend a week traveling over the Sinnoh region; currently they were The only rationalization offered for his actions (rationalization, not excuse or apology or even explanation) was that she was going to thank him for it later. However, tired and dirty and not even remotely groomed as she was (he didn't even give her a bare minimum of ten minutes for her hair!), she **highly** doubted that this was going to be worth it. When she finally got to the top of this hill, she was going to give Lucas a VERY large piece of her mind.

Dawn panted and heaved; it was WAY too early to be on mountain hike! Her feet were aching, and she couldn't breathe. A bottle of water would've helped her very much, but that would be in her duffel bag, which was with Lucas. She groaned, and sank onto a rock, her throat too dry and raspy too even call for Lucas. Turns out she didn't need to.

Lucas pressed an open water bottle to her lips, which she quickly drained. She sighed in relief and stood up again, only to attack Lucas. "WHY did you bring me on this forsaken hike up this mountain of doom, again? I'm tired, and hungry, and thirsty, and ugly–"

"_Ugly_?" Lucas cut her off. "Where did that come from?"

Dawn sighed exasperatedly. She loved Lucas to pieces, but didn't guys know _anything_?! She grabbed a bit of her hair at shook it in her fist. "You see? My pillow-hair is _everywhere!_"

"Nice rhyme," Lucas said with a grin. Dawn shoved him.

"You don't get it! It takes a long time to make myself look pretty, and my hair is difficult, because Pachirisu sometimes will just up and set off its Spark, and that makes my hair all staticky, and then I have to start over, and…"

Lucas listened attentively to her explain her position without interrupting her. Then he slowly slid his arms around her. "Dawn, you don't need to _make_ yourself look pretty."

"Yes I do. My hair…" Lucas cut her off by pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Your hair is fine; I see no problem whatsoever." He pressed his lips against her forehead as his hand ran through her tresses, as soft and sweet-smelling is they had been every day for the past two years, since the beginning of their relationship. And heck, even before that, back when he had that crush on her. He had never thought she'd looked _ugly_, and hey, she thought Pachirisu was bad, the little squirrel was nothing next to his Luxray! Thanks to the lioness and a certain incident involving a Grimer that had lodged itself in the bathroom toilet, there had been a whole week where he had to wear sandals because his socks were giving off enough voltage to power Sunyshore for a whole year!

She giggled for a bit after his speech, and then looked at him. "You mean that?"

"Of course." Lucas kissed her forehead again, and Dawn buried her face in the crook of his neck.

And who said guys weren't romantic?

"So, can we start back up again?"

"This had better be as good as you say it is, Lucas. It's dark, and I can barely see where I'm going, and the sun isn't up yet. Three _very_ good reasons why I should still be in bed." Her smirk revealed her good mood.

"You'll like it, I promise. Professor Rowan showed me this when I was his traveling partner, back when I was ten."

"I'd better, or you're in for a _world_ of hurt, Loverboy."

Lucas chuckled and checked his Pokétch. "We have about half-an-hour to haul our butts up the mountain." Dawn nodded seriously.

"Okay."

With that, the two quickly resumed their march up the hill, Lucas' excitement was catching, and while Lucas was quickly moving ahead, he never left Dawn more than several yards behind. And he'd always wait for her, no matter how much she said she'd catch up later.

Finally, they reached the summit, and it was still dark. Lucas blew a big sigh of relief and laughed. Dawn smiled at his antics; this side of Lucas was rare in showing itself, and she felt honored that he would reveal himself in front of her like that. She quickly joined him when he beckoned her. "You'll want to see this," he said as he grinned.

"Lucas, if this is some weirdo Pokémon mating ritual, I will never speak to you again."

"Dawn, if this is some weirdo Pokémon mating ritual, I wouldn't blame you."

Dawn giggled and sat down beside Lucas as he leaned against a large tree facing east. She squeaked in delighted surprise however, when he wrapped his arms around her, and hoisted her into his lap. She sighed contentedly and snuggled up, thankful for the comforting warmth of the sixteen year old with her.

Above them, slowly the stars twinkled into darkness as streaks of dark violet and red flew suddenly across the sky. Soon, an orange glow seeped across the heavens, followed by bands of yellow. And then the golden orb of the daystar rose above the mountains setting all color on fire. The darkness receded, driven back by the sun's light. The sun rose ever higher, until they could no longer stand its direct radiance.

"So, did you like it?" Lucas asked, leaning over her and giving her an upside-down kiss on the forehead.

"Mm hmm…" Dawn turned over and cuddled her head against Lucas' chest. Lucas smiled and scratched behind her ear – she'd always had a sweet spot there. She cooed back up at him blissfully.

"I think we'd better start heading back." Dawn didn't answer at first.

"Dawn, as much as I want to spend time alone with you, we need to go back now."

"Oh, no you don't. You drag me up here on an hour long hike, so now I have an hour's worth of sleep to catch up on, at _least_! I declare you my pillow, so you stay!"

Try as he might to shift her, Lucas gained no ground. "Okay, Dawn, joke's over. Dawn? Dawn! Oh, come on, Dawn! Dawn, get up!" After a while, he just sighed; he would have no choice in the matter, it seemed.

Damion was _**not**_ going to be happy with him when he woke up to find no breakfast.


	14. Onsen

Often (if not always) located near volcanoes, _onsen_ are hot spring resorts that are wildly popular with tourists. Oftentimes, wild Mankey will soak with said tourists, although only the more daring will enjoy the sensation _with_ the Mankey. (Rarely, there have been instances where the Mankey have been known to become so elated by the hot spring that they spontaneously evolve into Primeape– guess what that leads to).Despite this, _onsen_ remain a popular attraction — hey, these are the same people who risk death by eating certain types of Qwilfish on a regular basis. Lavaridge of the Hoenn region is famous for its hot springs. And it is in this particular resort that Flannery of the local Gym was resting.

The Gym Leader sighed contentedly, her scarlet mane, unbound from the explosive ponytail she normally wore, falling down her back as she felt the warm waters soak all her worries away. It had been a very stressful day today, what with the last few Trainers that she dealt with being outright snot-noses. And then there were the bills that needed to be paid, the cost of which had gone through the roof due to some of her lieutenants overdoing it with the heating. Not only that, but lately there had been some graffiti being painted on the walls, probably by some Water Trainer, judging from the fact that the last work had said "Lavaridge Gym is all washed up!" Stupid snot-nosed Water Trainers and their stupid snot-nosed Pokémon…

Grumbling to herself, she slid under the warm water, letting it calm her. She stayed under for a few moments, and then rose up out of the water. However, there was something different, this time. It took her a moment to realize that she was no longer alone in the sauna. She waited for a few seconds to see if he would turn around and notice her (thus allowing her to vent on him), but he just sat there staring over the edge, ignorant of her presence. Flannery bit her lip, trying to figure out how best to approach this issue. She grinned suddenly.

She snuck up behind the poor trainer, silently waiting to see if he would notice her. When he made no move, she lifted her arm, and lightly tapped the water. He paused, and she used this to slide behind him as he turned around, looking for the culprit. When he saw none, he turned back to the edge, muttering something about "annoying pig monkeys", Flannery having escaped his notice. She had to stifle a giggle; she had recognized who her unknowing companion was. She hadn't seen him in years! Oh, this was just _too good_! She rapped the water again, this time a little louder. The young man before her jerked around quickly, but she was still too quick for him. She had to bite her finger to hide the giggle that was threatening to reveal her; try as he might, he just couldn't figure out she was there with him. She slapped the water the third time, and still managed to get behind the unfortunate soul, who groaned in exasperation.

She slunk directly behind him, and snaked her arms around his waist and torso. She grinned as she felt him freeze, and then pressed up against his back, seductively whispering, "Hello, _Steven_" right before she licked his ear. Suddenly regaining control of himself, he jerked out of her arms, and spun around.

"F– _Flannery?!_" Steven Stone gaped at her. "I'm sorry! If I'd known, I'd've never – I — did you just _lick me_?"

Her fingers friskily wiggled at him in a playful wave hello. "Hiya, Stevie! Long time no see," she said with an innocent smile. "Cute jams." She smiled playfully as she pointed at his swim trunks, dark purple with a Beldum motif. She herself was wearing a vermilion bikini, and lucky she did, or else Steven might've literally died from the blood flow to his head. There was a few moments' pause, in which Steven's face refused to break free from the sheer shock of the incident. Flannery couldn't help it as she burst out laughing.

It was her laughter hat brought about his senses, and as he figured just what had happened, he shot her a light glare, which turned into a simple resigned smile. "Your —_ face_—" Flannery managed to squeeze out between gasps of air, before lapsing back into peals of laughter. Unable to maintain the façade, he began to chuckle a bit himself. Eventually, Flannery managed to calm herself enough that she could sit down, although not without the occasional snigger. "So, Stevie, what brings you all the way to Lavaridge?"

Steven sat down opposite her, resuming his normal polite expression. "Well, I've been doing some traveling; with Wallace as the Champion now, I'm pretty much free to go and do whatever I want, wherever I want, whenever I want."

"Which probably involves a lot of digging in the dirt, I'm guessing."

Steven sighed exasperatedly. "I told you before, Flannery, it's called mining!"

"All you do is collect shiny things you find in the ground. You've been doing it for years, at least since we met when I was nine."

"It's not that simple—!"

"Okay, fine. You dig a _really_ _big_ hole in the ground, and _then_ you collect the shiny stuff."

Steven contented himself with an annoyed stare. "Do you _enjoy_ being immature, Flannery?"

"Do you _enjoy_ being prissy, Steven?" Flannery shot back in a perfect imitation. Oh, she was feeling better by the minute!

"_Prissy_?"

"Yes, _prissy_. You need to relax, Steven; no one's going to mind if you let loose for a bit." She sashayed over and sat down beside him. "I wouldn't, at least," she added, her cheeks glowing a little

Steven sighed and looked up at the sky, where the clouds gently floated over them. "I didn't recognize you right away," he said eventually. "You look so different with your hair down."

"Does it look weird?" She looked up worriedly.

"No! Good Heavens, no. You look very pretty with it down, actually," he said with a smile. "Not to say, of course, that your ponytail looks worse."

Flannery beamed radiantly at the young man she'd known since childhood. He smiled warmly at her in turn. "I'm sorry for what I said about being prissy," she apologized, looking down a little. "I was just…"

"It's okay; and besides, you're right. I do sometimes go overboard with it."

"So, what _are_ you doing here? You used to come visit every other weekend, but I haven't seen you in three years, since you became Champion. Besides, the most Lavaridge has is _onsen_, no precious stones here." She stretched her arms up to the sky, rolled her neck, and let her elbows rest atop the stone rim of the bath.

"Did I ever say that 'digging in the dirt' was the only thing I ever did? Can't I visit old friends?" he asked, smiling at her again.

"Well, that entirely depends. I guess that's okay if _I'm _the friend you came to visit."

Steven chuckled amiably. "Of course I came to visit you," he said. "When I'd heard you weren't at the Gym, I figured you'd be in one of the springs; you'd always drag me here whenever I visited. It's one of the many things I've learned about you over the eight years of our friendship. I just didn't know which one you were in, so I decided to just finally get in one, and if I saw you, I'd call you. Turns out I didn't need to, though."

"Yep; I still remember how my Grandfather kicked your derrière when you were still just a junior Trainer, ten-and-a-half years old with a Metang, a Skarmory, and an Aron."

"Thank you for reminding me," he deadpanned. She giggled happily at his expression, and then slowly they quieted down. They shared an intimate, coquettish smile, and her cheeks began to crimson.

The redhead studied him for a moment. "You've become quite the blade since I saw you last." She blushed a little as she looked at him.

Steven smiled graciously at the young scarlet-haired woman beside him. "And you've become very beautiful, yourself."

She felt her face burn, and it was most definitely _not _from the sauna. "Me?" she squeaked. "Beautiful?" Steven nodded. "You—you really think so?" she whispered in wonder.

Steven nodded at her again, and she suddenly found herself unable to look at him. "No one's ever said that about me… before."

"Well, it's long overdue." She smiled brilliantly at his compliment, and, caught in the moment, she kissed his cheek.

Steven paused, and felt his cheek with his fingers. He could still feel the sensation of her lips against his face. He looked at her and smiled softly. She smirked back at him, but squeaked in surprise when he doused her with water from the spring. She laughed, and then sprayed him with more of the warm liquid. Suddenly, they were flinging large globs of water at each other, laughing hard with hands flailing. Steven finally managed to encircle Flannery's waist with his arm and caught one of her arms with his other hand.

Realizing she wasn't going to be able to do much with just one arm, she tried playfully shoving him away, and then smacking him lightly on the chest, but when he didn't yield, the teenager began to pout, averting her eyes. Suddenly, Flannery was able to realize how athletic Steven had become, as his sculpted body reflected. She looked up at him, and their eyes met. Time seemed to freeze, and Flannery remembered when they were younger. His eyes were exactly the same, not hardened by time, and yet, they had… matured. She suddenly slid her arm around his neck, and hugged him tightly. "I missed you."

Steven blinked at her, and then slowly returned the embrace, allowing her newly-freed arm to join its sibling. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, and suddenly he smelt the sweetness of her luxurious hair, felt her smooth, delicate skin which complemented her supple frame without denying her sinewy limbs that came from years of training. "I missed you, too."

A few moments passed, and then they drifted apart for a few seconds, and there was a horribly awkward silence. "So…"

Steven found himself unable to say anything. There were very few things that he could think of to do, to say. He hadn't been in such an incident since they were kids.

Suddenly a horrid screech rent the air, causing Flannery to jump into Steven's arms. A Mankey above them was going absolutely berserk, leaping from branch to branch like its rear end was on fire. It flew at them, and Flannery shut her eyes in fear— but nothing happened. She opened her eyes, and noticed that Steven had snagged the little swine-chimp by its fur, and the little Pokémon was screeching at them, flailing. At least, it _was_,until Steven threw it over the wall surrounding the small spring, its not-so-piteous squeal diminishing.

"Well," Flannery noted in a chipper tone, "there went that moment." She looked at Steven. "Well, I guess I should somehow thank you, you being my knight in shining armor, and all. Or maybe purple jams," she giggled.

"Oh, leave it alone, would you?" Steven grimaced.

"But they're so _cute_!" she continued. "They really show what you're all about!"

"Okay, Flannery, that's enough," Steven said. He sat down again, and Flannery, grinning, sank into the water just till it covered everything but the top half of her face. She let out a content sigh as she closed her eyes, and began to simply float on her back. Steven watched her, not moving, but smiling contentedly. He missed moments like these, but now that he was free of the Champion's title, maybe he could have more of them. With her.

He slowly approached her, careful not to disturb her. He crouched down a little, but paused when she spoke to him.

"Steve?" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for coming; it was sweet of you."

"Nonsense. I wanted to see you again."

"Still… it was sweet. Thank you again."

"Okay, Flannery, that's enough. Besides, we're friends, right?"

Flannery nodded silently.

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit. I plan on doing more of that, now. If you want me to."

"I'd like that. But first…" She opened one eye to look at him. For a while, she had been drifting in a circle, and now her head pointed towards Steven's abdomen. Her slender arms reached up, and loosely wrapped around the back of Steven's head.

"There's still the matter of thanking my knight…"

As Flannery drew Steven closer, neither one noticed that a Mankey had peeked over the wall. Screeching it's little head off, it lept.


	15. Are You Ticklish?

"Hey, Wes?"

"Yeah?"

"…Guess."

"Guess… what?"

"Guess! Something about me!"

"Uh… Why?"

"It's fun, that's why! You guess something about me, and if I say you're right, it's your turn!"

"Uh… no."

"Oh, come on! Fine. If you won't go first, I will. Are you… ticklish?"

"…I don't know. I've never really had the opportunity or desire to find ou…Why are you grinning at me like that?"

"Can I find out?"

"Find out…? No. No, definitely not."

"Oh, come on, Wes! Just a little tickle?"

"Please stop grinning at me like that stupid Chester Cat!"

"It's _Cheshire_ Cat, Wes."

"I don't care, I _heh_– Stop that, Rui! _Hehehehe…_I said stop!! _Hehehehe__**hahahah—**_Dangit, woman! I said stop! _Ahahahahahah—_"

"_Wes is ticklish! Wes is ticklish!!_"

"I said STOP! Fine. You win."

"That was fun…"

"I don't care."

"You're cute when you giggle."

"…Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said, tough guy. You. Are. Cute. When. Yo—"

"Alright, alright! I get it! ... Now then, it's my turn."

"…Uh oh…"

"Tell me, Rui… Are you…_ticklish?_"

"Uh, I don't – Wes, stop that – please, I'm sorr_AIIEEEE—!!!_"


	16. Complimentary

"Hmm… How about this? …No. No, definitely not."

Misty eyeballed her reflection, holding a clump of her ginger hair in her fist. She brought the hand up to the back of her head, maybe for a more traditional ponytail, and then decided against it.

"_Misty_…" came a voice from the other side of the bathroom door. "Have you been in there this _whole time?_"

"Yes! Deal!"

"What on earth are you doing in there? What could possibly take a… oh. Nevermind."

"Ash!" screamed Misty. "Eew! Gross! I'm fixing my hair, if you must know!"

"…And that takes half an hour?"

"Well, I want to do something different with it today."

"Well, why don't you just wear it down?"

Misty rolled her eyes. Why? Because every time she had, during the past six years of her friendship with a certain Ash Ketchum, he would stare at her, apparently…

"Because it looks weird."

"No, it doesn't."

"It… doesn't?" Misty regarded the door with a strange expression.

"No, it doesn't. It's just… different."

"Than why do you always stare so much when I do have it down?"

"'Cause it makes me realize that, hey, you, Misty Waterflower, are a girl. Not just one of the guys."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're far more than what the immature prick on the other side of this door chooses to acknowledge most of the time."

Misty blushed, glad for the door to hide behind.

"Can you come out now?"

"So pushy," Misty giggled.

"Pushy nothing. Necessity: If you don't open that door now, my internal combustion timer will hit zero and I'll detonate _right here_."

With a small yelp, Misty threw open the door. Ash flew past her towards the toilet and slammed the door behind him.

The Cerulean Gym Leader stared at the opposite side of the locked door for a moment, and then stepped sprightly into the lobby of the Gym, Ash's compliment still ringing in her ears.


	17. Happy Halloween!

"Lucas!"

The head assistant of the Rowan Research Labs sighed as he slumped against the back of his chair. Halloween. A time of mystery, shadows, parties… and lots of tiny little kids in tiny little costumes screaming "Trick or Treat!" at the top of their tiny little lungs.

"Are you ready?" asked his younger sister from the door way of his office.

"Sure. What are you again?"

His younger sister stared at him for a moment, shocked that it wasn't completely obvious. "I'm a zombie! _Doy!_"

"Right. Sorry. I thought the bolts were Frankenstein's thing."

"It's Frankenstein's _monster_, bro! Come on! And you didn't notice the mummy bandages?"

"So… you just threw random monsters together?"

"More or less. How does it look?"

Lucas paused. Why, oh WHY couldn't he have a normal sister? "…Effective."

"Really? That's so awesome of you! Thanks, Bro!"

Lucas smiled at his younger sister's joy. "Hey, what do you think us big brothers are for? Come on, you ready?"

"Yup! Let's go!"

With that, Lucas smiled resignedly as his younger sister dragged him from his chair, down the hallways, past Professor Rowan, and out the door into the chill night.

"Alright, sis; I'm your guide for the whole night. Where do you want to go first?"

Lucas was in charge of being his sister's escort during her Trick-or-Treat this year, because his parents were busy with work for Rowan, and the professor would be too busy scaring children as he handed candy to them. He didn't mind; he needed something to do tonight, anyway.

As his younger sister dragged him all over the streets and roads of Sandgem, he smiled, waved, and said "Hello" to the neighbors they met, until two hours later, when his sister had "done" every house in town. Twice.

"Alright, it's time to go, Sis," said Lucas.

"Oh, let's hit Twinleaf!" pleaded his sister. "_Please?_"

"C'mon, Sis, it's 7:00, already, and you have a big day tomorrow."

It was true, tomorrow was her tenth birthday, and the day she received her license.

"Oh, c'mon, Bro! Let's ask Mom and Dad, please? Besides, I _know_ you wanted to see Dawn tonight!"

Lucas paused, regarding his sister carefully. "That smarty-pants tendency of yours is gonna get you into trouble someday, you hear me? … Okay, fine, we'll ask Mom and Dad, but if they say 'No'…"

…They said 'Yes'.

Lucas wondered briefly if God had a sense of humor as his kid sister led the way down the route to the rustic Twinleaf Town. His zombified sibling grabbed his hand and pulled him along energetically as they neared the town.

"Alright, Sis, we're here," laughed Lucas. "Where do you want to go first?"

Without answering, she again grabbed his hand, and led him through town, starting with Damion's house. Finally, after another hour of shrill "Trick or treat"–ing, Lucas was dog-tired (hey, he spent most of the day working for the Professor) and would've liked nothing better than to collapse, unconscious.

"We're here!" sang his younger sister.

"We're.. where?"

"Dawn's house! Duh!"

Lucas looked up. Indeed, Dawn's house loomed before them, and a vibrant light and hearty pulse emanating from within suggested that the party Dawn had thrown for Halloween was in full swing.

Before he could stop her, Lucas' sibling had jogged up the front steps and rung the doorbell. The mahogany swung open, and there stood Johanna, smiling as she indulged in the childish ritual of the infernal "Trick or Treat" that so berated Lucas' ears.

"Ooh! Hi! Wow, you're quite the fearsome little zombie, aren't you?"

Lucas, who had chosen to remain a few yards away, stared. How on earth could she have figured it out that quickly?! And then Johanna noticed him.

"Lucas! Hello, there!" she said warmly. The teenager smiled and tipped his beret to her. "How are you?"

"Fine. I'm just escorting Sis, here."

"Well, you must be tired. You want some chocolate?"

"Oh, no, ma'am, I—"

"Nonsense! Here, have two." And before he could protest further, she tossed two large chocolate bars at him. She was an excellent shot.

"Dawn!" Johanna called. "Come here! There's someone I bet you'll want to see!"

"Coming!" Dawn called back to her mother. In a few moments, she appeared next to her mother. She was wearing a Piplup-based out fit, complete with fuzzy webbed-feet boots. "Who is it?"

"Hey, Dawn," Lucas chuckled from where he stood. "How's the party?"

"Oh, hey!" Dawn dashed out the door to give her boyfriend of two years a fierce hug. "It's great! Want to come in?"

"Sorry," Lucas said, shrugging. "But I promised to take care of my Sis tonight."

Dawn looked a little downcast. "Yeah, okay."

Lucas' kid sister looked between the two. "It's okay, Bro! You can stay! I don't mind!"

"But I do," said Lucas. "I said I'd do this with you, and I'll stick to what I said.

"Sorry, Dawn, but duty calls. Besides, I haven't heard enough "Trick or Treat!"s yet. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling a little. She stepped closer and gave him a small, sweet kiss, and then she returned to the party after giving a hug to the younger girl.

As Lucas walked his sister home, she too gave him a strong hug. "Thanks, Bro."

"Happy Halloween, Sis."


	18. Caramelldansen

Lucas wasn't entirely sure which was worse. The fact that his little sister had introduced him to the horror that was the Caramelldansen, or that she had combined efforts with his girlfriend of a strong five years to get him to dance to it.

_Vi undrar är ni redo att vara med_

_Armarna upp nu ska ni få se_

_Kom igen_

_Vem som helst kan vara med_

"No! A thousand times over, no!!"

" Oh, come on, Luke! Join in!"

Lucas took one look at the ridiculous bunny-ear motions his girlfriend was making. "No. Definitely not."

_Så rör på era fötter_

_Oa-a-a_

_Och vicka era höfter_

_O-la-la-la_

_Gör som vi_

_Till denna melodi_

"What's happening guys?" asked Damion as he poked his head into the office. "Oooh… _Caramelldansen?_ Can I join in?"

"Sure! We're trying to get Luke to, too."

Lucas groaned as the blonde sashayed in and added to the mix.

_Dansa med oss_

_Klappa era händer_

_Gör som vi gör_

_Ta några steg åt vänster_

_Lyssna och lär_

_Missa inte chansen_

_Nu är vi här med_

_Caramelldansen_

_O-o-oa-oa..._

"What's all this noise?" demanded Professor Rowan as he too moved into the room. "Lucas, you know that –"

Lucas watched in despair as his boss saw his best friend, his girlfriend, and his sister dancing to the song. Even Dawn's Lopunny had been called out.

"What is everyone doing?"

"The Caramel Dance! Come on, join in!" said Dawn.

The professor fixed the girl with one of his stares.

"Sounds like fun," he said.

_Det blir en sensation överallt förstås_

_På fester kommer alla att släppa loss_

_Kom igen_

_Nu tar vi stegen om igen_

Lucas sat stunned, as the assembled danced to the assinine song blasting from the computer speakers Dawn had connected her mp3 player to. With even greater chagrin, he saw the group enlarge as other coworkers from the office had joined the party outside the room, and — _were those his PARENTS?_

_Så rör på era fötter_

_Oa-a-a_

_Och vicka era höfter_

_O-la-la-la_

_Gör som vi_

_Till denna melodi_

Lucas was now standing in the corner of the room, suffering from a self-acknowledged case of being in serious denial. He was not in an office filled with people –who were on any other day a seat of perfectly rational creatures. As he looked ut the window, he noticed that the pokémon outside were also dancing to the song.

_Så kom och_

_Dansa med oss_

_Klappa era händer_

_Gör som vi gör_

_Ta några steg åt vänster_

_Lyssna och lär_

_Missa inte chansen_

_Nu är vi här med_

_Caramelldansen_

_Dansa med oss_

_Klappa era händer_

_Gör som vi gör_

_Ta några steg åt vänster_

_Lyssna och lär_

_Missa inte chansen_

_Nu är vi här med_

_Caramelldansen_

This wasn't happening. It wasn't. It wasn't!!

…It was.

_O-o-o a a..._

"Okay," said Lucas. "That's enough. I think it's done."

"We don't!" replied his sister.

"I have work to get done! And SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE!!" he emphasized to his coworkers.

His coworkers who paid him no heed.

_Så kom och_

_Dansa med oss_

_Klappa era händer_

_Gör som vi gör_

_Ta några steg åt vänster_

_Lyssna och lär_

_Missa inte chansen_

_Nu är vi här med_

_Caramelldansen_

Lucas stood up and walked over to Dawn. She paid him no heed at first, but as he continued to stand there solemnly, she slowed and looked at him. His steady gaze brought a blush to her face.

"Now, then…" said Lucas solemnly. "Would you show me how to do this?"

Dawn gaped at her boyfriend for a moment before she realized what he said.

"Sure thing!" she said with a smile.

_Dansa med oss_

_Klappa era händer_

_Gör som vi gör_

_Ta några steg åt vänster_

_Lyssna och lär_

_Missa inte chansen_

_Nu är vi här med_

_Caramelldansen_


	19. Shopping

Brendan sighed, for maybe the sixteenth time in twenty minutes. Of all the places he wanted to be today, here was not one of them.

"How much longer is this going to take?" he asked, for maybe the sixteenth time in twenty minutes.

"I'll let you know," said a voice, for maybe the sixteenth time in twenty minutes.

Feeling no better than he had been sixteen questions ago, Brendan slumped back in the chair against the mirror behind it. He pulled his bandana down so it covered his eyes, praying that his childhood fantasy –being unable to see the outside world would render the outside world unable to see him– would come to his aid.

It didn't.

"So?" said the voice. "What do you think about this one?"

Tiredly pulling his bandana up again, Brendan looked over to see May dressed in yet ANOTHER outfit. Perhaps the thirtieth one she'd put together since she dragged him in here… over an HOUR ago?! Sheez…

May grinned cheerily as her companion examined her newest set of clothes, only to have it slide off when he offered his opinion.

"It's alright," said Brendan noncommittally.

"Only alright?" repeated May, somewhat put off. "That's all? No insights whatsoever?"

"Uh… no, I guess not. It's fine."

May rolled her eyes. "That's all you've said today, Brendan! 'It's fine', or, 'It's alright'. Come on, there's gotta be more to it than that!"

Brendan blinked. "I'm not much of a clothes shopping person, May. You know that."

The brunette fixed her friend with a stare. "You said you wanted to spend time together today, didn't you?"

"To be honest," said Brendan, "I had something else in mind. At least, not this."

"Yeah, well, I was going to do this with or without you, Brendan. I'm simply taking advantage of a second person's opinion, that's all."

Brendan groaned as May again disappeared into the dressing room. "Wait a second!"

The teenager poked her head out of the doorway. "Yeah?"

"If I give you a serious opinion, will you finish quicker?"

May allowed herself a smug little smile. "That depends on the opinion."

Brendan muttered a little to himself as May stepped again into the hallway, and then he took a long look.

May had opted for a slightly warmer palette. She was wearing a light orange sleeveless blouse that sported a few white lines undulating across her midriff, which contrasted neatly with a pair of ivory capri pants. He smiled a little – it was actually a rather pleasant effect when juxtaposed with her sun-blessed skin. (He smiled a little wider – May had begun to blush under his gaze). She had replaced her banadana with a dark purple bucket hat, and was sporting a pair of dark brown flip-flops.

"Not bad," said Brendan softly, looking her up and down. "Not bad at all."

"You like it?" May asked tentatively.

"Yeah," replied Brendan. "It looks good on you."

"Really?"

Brendan grinned. "I wouldn't lie to you about something like that, would I?"

May giggled shyly and embraced the young man, catching him slightly off guard. "I was hoping you'd like it. That's why I was here in the first place: I wanted to see if I could get your attention with a new outfit. When you offered to come, I decided to take advantage of it, instead of guessing and fretting over it."

"Wait." Brendan paused a moment, running the idea through his mind before vocalizing it. "You were shopping for an outfit to impress me?"

"Well, yeah," said May with a bit of a blush. "And let me tell you, you did NOT make it easy! For crying out loud, how hard would I have had to try to get you to sit up and take notice from the first look alone?"

Brendan chortled a little at May's tirade. "Well, if you were going for a first-look stunner, you would have been far less successful — no, I'm not saying you lack anything; I'm just saying that, within good reason, I don't care about the clothes you're wearing. But, for whatever it's worth, I think you look great, now that I'm paying attention."

Brendan smiled softly and continued to speak soothingly to May, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him. "Remember, May? I wanted to spend time with you before, back when you were still in your other clothes; it just doesn't matter to me. I just want to be with you."

May blushed harder as she smiled at him. "Thanks," she said, her heart beating maybe a beat or two faster.

"No problem. Do you think we're done now?"

"Yeah. Just let me get all my stuff together…"

May disappeared for a moment, and then reappeared in her original outfit. She returned almost all the clothes and paid for the ones she didn't (Brendan graciously offered to carry the bag for her). The pair walked outside into the Rustboro Mall.

"Where to, now?" May asked, following Brendan down a large corridor.

"Shopping," said Brendan simply.

May registered a double take. "But, I thought we were done. Didn't you spend the last twenty minutes whining about my shopping?"

"Your shopping, May. You dragged me into the woman's section of your store for an hour! Now it's my turn."

The girl looked up at the entrance of the store Brendan had entered, sighing miserably as she read the name.

Brendan had entered an electronics store. That was just… peachy.

This was going to take forever…

* * *

Notes: For those of you who don't know what Caramelldansen is, it's a song that has taken the internet by storm. Trust us, a quick search on Youtube will answer any questions you have on what exactly was going on in Lucas' office during the last chapter.


	20. Déjà Vu

He guessed it all depended.

Lucas was not a very loud person. Nor was he a very quick person. He wasn't much for intense Training or flashy Contests, as they required a lot more energy than he was inclined to give. It wasn't that he was lazy or neglectful, as he had been when he was younger. He just liked to move slowly. It gave him more time to think, and that was what he liked to do. Doctor Rowan had once called him a great strategist in the making when Lucas beat him in a game of chess (Lucas personally thought this was because the good doctor was searching for an excuse as to why he'd lost).

But, Lucas didn't like to think of himself as a great strategist or any such thing. Mira had more talent for thinking puzzles and logic than he did. She could cream him at chess any time she wanted, if she could just learn to sit still long enough.

That was not the only thing he'd been called. Once, Mrs. Berlitz, Dawn's mom, had suggested he'd make an excellent comedian. This had happened several years ago when he'd agreed to baby-sit several young Twinleaf children and entertain them with a few stories of his travels (mostly of the various times in which Damion had run him over).

Lucas liked that idea more than the strategist one, mainly because he liked the idea of making people laugh. But it still didn't seem quite right to him. Cheryl had more of a talent for humor and drollery than he did, and she could weave a story _ex nihilo_ like nobody's business.

Palmer had once proposed he try for the Pokémon League, after seeing him in a practice match against Damion, but Lucas turned him down flat.

He raised his pokémon, true enough, but Lucas just couldn't see himself doing much in the league. Battling required a lot of energy on both the parts of the trainer and the pokémon, and doing something that required him to be someone he wasn't just didn't appeal to him. Besides, Buck was far more passionate about it, and a better rival for Damion, besides.

Well, how about an artist? Cynthia said that he had talent, didn't she?

Well, yes, but Marley has lots of it, too. She had tons of talent and ability than he didn't. Girl could sketch anything she wanted in five seconds flat, no problem. Lucas, not so much.

Well, he was good at maintaining order. That was something, wasn't it? Usually, he was able to keep Damion on some semblance of a leash when the blonde was going nuts.

Yeah, well, sometimes Damion got a little out of hand, and he was the only person who cared to do anything about it. Besides, Riley had far more professional qualities than Lucas did. And besides—

"GOSH DARNIT, LUCAS!!" screamed Dawn. "Just answer the question! Is that too hard?!"

Lucas chuckled a little from where he was lying down across the back of his torterra, which was, in turn, lying at the rim of Lake Verity, gently drinking water from the lake.

"What question was that, again?"

The fourteen-year-old girl rolled her eyes so hard she felt they might pop out.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I'm, uh, not sure," said Lucas with a slight chuckle. "In case you didn't pick up on that."

Dawn harrumphed to herself and looked away with a slight pout. "Here I am, trying to spend some decent quality time with a friend, and I'm being treated like it doesn't matter."

"Now, did I say that?" asked Lucas. "Of course it matters that you're here. I probably wouldn't be having this much fun talking to you if you weren't, now would I?"

"Jerk," muttered Dawn, thankful that Lucas couldn't see her mouth creasing upward ever so slightly at the corners.

"Sorry, Dawn," chuckled Lucas. "I couldn't help that one. Forgive me?"

Dawn glanced over her shoulder just long enough to see that he was, in fact, earnest, before turning back around.

"And why should I?" she demanded.

"Because, I'm really sorry?" Lucas offered, sliding down off of the massive tortoise's back.

"Not good enough!" replied Dawn. "Try again."

Lucas scratched his chin a little, thinking. "What would you like?"

Dawn kept her smile hidden. "If I tell you, it won't be worth anything. You have to try and guess what I want for an apology, or to try and one-up it."

Oh. Wonderful. Lucas hated guessing games. He was decent at them, but still…

"You've been talking to Sis, haven't you?" he accused.

A slightly playful "_Maybe_…" was all he got for a response.

It was Lucas' turn to roll his eyes. Peachy. Just peachy.

"Does it involve me doing something stupid?"

"Now, when you say 'stupid'…"

"Like some weird sort of dance or jump?"

Dawn giggled. "Nope. That would be fun to watch, though."

"Does it involve me dressing up like someone?"

"Maybe."

"No maybes. Yes or no."

"Well, it depends!"

"That… doesn't help me at all."

"I know! Isn't it great?"

Lucas groaned and glared at the dark-haired girl. "What is this, Twenty Questions?"

"If you want it to be," giggled the girl again (she REALLY liked to giggle, that girl). Dawn rolled over onto her stomach, propping herself up on her arms.

"No, I don't."

"Well, then, make it up to me!"

"How?" groaned Lucas.

"You have to figure that part out!"

"You are NOT helping, Dawn."

"Yeah, well… That's not my problem."

"Does it involve somebody else? Like Damion or someone?"

"Well, I guess. It involves me, I like to think."

"I mean besides you and me!"

"Nope. Not unless you want to."

"And what is that supposed to mean, exactly?"

To say Dawn's giggling was making Lucas frustrated was putting it as a slight understatement. Okay, more than a slight one.

"Not telling!"

"Well, could you give me a clue, at least?"

Dawn seemed to think about it for a moment.

"It involves you giving me something."

Lucas paused. "Like what?"

"You have to guess, silly!"

Lucas was having just about the most ANNOYING sense of déjà vu at this point.

"An apology?"

"Did it work the last time?"

"…Good point. Uh, how about… a flower?"

"_A_ flower? Just _a _flower?"

"A bouquet?"

"Keep shootin', Junior."

"I don't know! How about… chocolates?"

"Are you trying to apologize or to confess your undying love to me?" deadpanned the teenage female.

"Some mixture of the two, apparently," muttered Lucas. "It's not like you're making things easier."

"Well, if I had to guess for your profession, you have to guess for the apology."

Lucas couldn't argue with that. With a sigh, he crossed his arms and leaned back against his Torterra, which was having a hard time keeping its laughter down.

"I hope it's not some kind of clothing."

"It's not. Don't worry."

"Well, then… some kind of gift? Is it actually a gift?"

"Maybe."

Lucas groaned. "Does it involve me paying for something for you?"

Dawn considered the idea. "Well, that's one way to do it, I guess."

Lucas paused, the inklings of an idea as to what it was just echoing in the back of his mind. "Does it involve going somewhere that requires payment?"

"It doesn't necessarily have to be paid for. But going somewhere is definitely part of it." Lucas noticed the slightest hint of a blush gracing Dawn's cheeks.

"Does it involve food?"

"Sometimes."

Lucas groaned and stood up. Dawn watched him walk away for a moment. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I give up," Lucas simply replied, not bothering to turn around and see her following him.

"Why? You were close!"

"Because I have an idea, but there's no way it'd be the right one."

Lucas turned to look at her, only to step back in surprise when he found her right in front of him.

"You don't know that you'd be wrong, do you?" she murmured. "What are you thinking of?"

The slightly taller boy mumbled something to himself.

"I didn't catch that."

"Would you like… to go on a date with me?" Lucas muttered shyly.

He looked up, finding himself surprised to see she wore a rich red blush like his own.

"I'd like that," she answered timidly.

There was a sort of awkward silence in which they just looked at each other for a moment, and then Lucas leaned back against Torterra's shell. He hefted himself up so he could sit on it, and offered a place to Dawn beside him. She sat beside him gently, looked at him, and turned away, blushing.

"So…" said Lucas slowly. "Where to?"

"I don't know. Anywhere's fine."

Lucas leaned back a little, thinking to himself.

"I know this restaurant," he said suddenly. "It's nothing fancy, but it's got decent food. When they get your order right, that is," he muttered to himself.

Dawn giggled at his expression. "Sounds like fun."

"And, maybe a movie?" he offered modestly. "I don't know anything really good out, and I'm not much of a moviegoer. But I think I could try it once."

"Just nothing too scary," said Dawn. "I hate horror movies. They freak me out too much."

"Me, too. I have better things to do than scare myself."

Dawn giggled at his expression, and Lucas smiled back.

"So, maybe Friday at five?" suggested Lucas. "Is that okay?"

Dawn nodded. "Sounds good!"

They smiled again, a little awkwardly, and then Lucas noticed his hand had been holding Dawn's without him noticing. She discovered this, too, and then they looked at each other slowly.

Lucas suddenly noticed Dawn had _very_ blue eyes. And he liked blue things. He _really_ liked blue things…

Torterra suddenly yawned and heaved itself to its feet, gracelessly tossing Dawn and Lucas into the lake.

Caught between fits of sputtering and laughing, Lucas tried to glare at the tortoise. "Torterra!" he laughed, trying to help Dawn to her feet.

Soaked to the bone and laughing like idiots, Lucas and Dawn made their way back to shore.

"You know," said Dawn, "I really hope it doesn't rain on Friday. I'm wet enough."

"Me neither," laughed Lucas. "Me neither."


	21. Tact

…Oh. Hey. Didn't expect to see you way up here. Whassup?

Me? Oh, I'm just beatin' on the bag. Dang chain needs to be fixed almost every time I come here.

Huh? Well, that's because it _breaks_ every time I'm here!

BECAUSE I BEAT ON THIS FRIGGIN' PUNCHING BAG TOO HARD, THAT'S WHY!!

Jeez, sorry. I've had a bit of a rough day. That, plus my short temper, and, hey, say '_Hello_', Asylumland.

Hm? Oh, I had a fight with Marley, that's what. Sheesh, you think I'd learn to keep my yap shut, but _no_…

No, I don't want to talk about it, thank you very much. I'm just gonna stand here and beat on this bag until I feel better.

Well, maybe not, but a coping mechanism is better than nothing.

Laugh it up, why don't you? Yeah, you and Dawn have everything together, and me? Not so much.

I am NOT apologizing to Marley! She's at as much fault as I am!

I don't FEEL like being mature! Trying to be mature is what made me come up here in the first place!

_GAH!!_ STUPID BROKEN CHAIN AND THE STUPID—— Okay. _I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm cool, I'm fine_… Hoo, boy.

Hey, would you pass me that water bottle? Thanks.

What? Oh, you just won't let it go, will you? And here I thought I was the one who fixated on things.

What are you, a shrink? Fine, whatever. It started at, what, two o'clock in the morning?

Well, I couldn't sleep! Are you gonna let me tell the story, or what?

Thank you! Sheesh! Anyway, it was two in the morning, and I had to use the pot. One too many root beers, I guess. Lo and beyond–

What do you mean 'behold'?

Oh, okay. Whatever. Lo and behold, it already had someone in it. Turns out this someone was–

No, not Marley! Sheesh! What, you think we shack up or something? She can't stand me, remember?

Yeah.

No, it wasn't Mira, either! Are you nuts, or what?!

NO, IT WASN'T CHERYL!! STOP GUESSING AND I'LL TELL YOU!! Jeez, what kind of shrink are you?

Quit smiling at me like that.

Lucas, I'm serious! I will wipe it off personally if you don't!

You know what? Forget it. ANYWAY, it turns out Flint was inside, reading the newspaper.

Yeah, the newspaper. Go figure. He pretends he's surprised to see me, as if I hadn't just spent five minutes trying to break down the door. Shows me the thing he's was looking at – remember, it's three in the morning.

Two, whatever. And, oddly enough, he hasn't been looking at a girly magazine. No, he's been looking at the front page of last week's newspaper.

Yeah, I know. Freaky.

Well, he shows me what he's been looking at. Some stupid museum exhibition on modern art. Booooring. Now, I'm kinda suspicious, 'cause Flint's been grinning at me like there's no tomorrow. It's way too early in the morning for anyone to do anything like that, so I grill him on it. He suggests I go there. Ask Marley out.

That's what I told him! No way would Marley EVER want to go into a public place with me! And there's no way I'd ever be allowed, anyway!

Nope. He says I should try it, anyway. Might get lucky. When I say no, he challenges me to a bet.

Yup. You know me.

…You _really_ oughta stop smiling like that. For the good of your health.

So, nine hours later, I call up Marley on the phone. First thing she wants to know is if I've lost something at her place. Then she asks if Flint burned down _ours_.

Whaddaya mean, you don't blame her? Does NO ONE think I can call a friend on the phone without it being something weird?!

Shut up. Now.

Anyway, I tell her why I called.

Yes, I officially **asked her out**. Is that so hard to believe?

No, she didn't say anything. She didn't say anything for, like, ten minutes.

Well, okay, fine. More like thirty seconds, but still. It felt like a _really _long time!

That's the thing! She doesn't _say_ anything! One minute, it's silence. The next, she's laughing harder than I think she ever has! Marley! Laughing! At me! Well, okay, that last one was a gimme. But, sheesh, how'd you like it if Dawn laughed in your face when you asked her out for the first time?

Same thing! She could see me across the video-link! Dude, she was laughing so hard, she was _crying_.

Oh, shut up.

Whatever. Anyway, she quiets down when I tell her I'm serious. …Heh. Shuts right up is more like it.

She said okay.

Yeah, I know. In fact, it took me about three more sentences to realize it, too. I still didn't get over it until after we'd already gone inside the museum.

Hey, I can dress up, every now and again, can't I? Why do you think I'm wearing this button shirt? Picture Day at Kindergarten?

She was wearing one of those Chinese dresses with the slit down the leg. In black. Dude, you have NO idea how hot she looks in one of those.

No, you CAN'T imagine. Trust me. And if you do, I will hurt you.

No, she's not my _territory_. I'm just saying. She's a friend, and if you so much as take one bad look at her, I'll skin you alive. Okay, so she's a really good friend. Or... was, I guess.

Stop laughing at me. Seriously. You suck at shrinkage, you know that?

I DON'T CARE IF IT'S NOT A WORD!! I'm freakin' _pissed off_ right now.

So, we're inside, and apparently it's one of those super-fancy echelon things, with more ritz than you can shake a stick at. So, while Marley fits right in, I look like the semi-casual dweeb from down the street.

You have no idea. She was drawing stares from the freaking _paintings_, let alone the people.

I have personally added them to my hit list.

Stop laughing!

Shakeswho? Oh, the _Hamlet_ guy.

No, Marley's into that stuff, not me. Martial Arts and explosions, that's my literature.

I don't know how she stands me, either.

Anyway, Marley's got me by the hand–

Hey, it's an improvement over the necktie, now isn't it?

Shut up.

ANYWAY, she's leading me down to, like, the far corner of the thing, where they have all these weird pictures of Pokémon and flowers.

Well, they all looked the same to me, except Marley liked the ones about this fantasy Pokémon.

It's this little white rodent thing with the bush growing out of its back. Marley's got loads of pictures of it in her sketchbook.

What, she hasn't shown you? Okay, weird.

No, I don't have the slightest idea why she would show me and not you, either.

Dude. You're, what, eighteen, and you STILL do the spelling thing? And here I thought I was the immature one.

Shay-what? Shaymin? You mean that little fluffball thing has a name?

It actually EXISTS? Dude. How DO you know this stuff? No, don't answer that.

I've had my fill of legendary Pokémon, trust me. The Magma Stone was enough for Yours Truly.

Hey, I learned my lesson: Do not take mystical artifacts from their spots unless you want a living volcano mad at you.

Yeah, that was lame.

Huh? Oh. Right. Where was I?

Oh, the paintings. Right. Well, Marley walks into the room with these paintings of what just about everybody else in the world thinks is an imaginary creature, and she's walking on air.

I'm serious. She's smiling and happy and stuff.

Yeah, I know it was weird. To be honest, I kinda liked it. She needs to smile more.

Quiet, you.

Me? Well, I'm just sitting around, letting her do her thing, and then she comes over to where I'm sitting. Wants to show me one of the paintings. It's this big thing of flowers with some kinda huge rock thing. Shaymin's sitting on top of it, just smiling.

The problem? I'm an artless loser, that's the problem. Marley's trying to have a moment, and I just screw it over. It's this big, serious piece, and the expression that the rodent has on just makes me want to laugh. So I do.

No kidding, _'she didn't take it well'_.

Well, no, not really. It just gets worse, and it's all because I couldn't tell fine art from umbreon poop. Before I know what's happened, I'm being upset at the top of my lungs, she's being upset in that _reaally_ creepy way of hers, and suddenly, we're Volcanobuck and Emomarley. I can't take it anymore, so I just walk.

Well, I thought it was better than sticking around to keep fighting.

Okay, fine. Great. Now I know I humiliated her. Wonderful. I feel SO much better.

Yeah, you're right, I could've said sorry.

Yeah, I _am_ sorry.

I know that telling YOU doesn't do it any good. But, it's not like she'll listen to me now.

What do you mean, 'turn around'? What, did you bring her with you?

HOLY — _Jeez_, woman! Don't DO that! You know I hate it when you… oh, boy. Exactly how much did you hear?

What do you mean, '_enough_'? HEY! Lucas, where're you going?!

What do you mean '_to leave us alone_'?! What does '_alone'_ mea_mmmm_…

…Oh.

So that's what he meant.

* * *

Notes:

-An attempt at a one-sided conversation, somewhat inspired by I Didn't Mean To! by Bohemiat. You really oughta look at it.

-For those of you who don't get the Shakespeare part, Lucas is saying that when Buck was talking about Marley drawing stares from the paintings, it sounded like something out of Shakespeare.

-You guys oughta remember that even though the real world knows just about EVERY detail about EVERY pokémon in existence, most of the people in the pokémon world, uh, don't.


	22. Snow

White. Lots and lots of… white. White was everywhere, and Wes was not happy about it. Because, you see, wherever there was white, there was also cold. And Wes hated cold.

"WHY are we here, again?" he demanded. "There are so many better things we could be doing."

"Like what?" chirped Rui, who had paused from prancing about in the snow.

"How about, oh, say… GOING BACK INSIDE?! I'm freezing!"

Rui giggled a little at Wes' expression. "Wimp," she said. "You're a big fat wimp when it comes to snow."

Wes and Rui were visiting the latter's family, who lived far outside the sweltering heat of the Orre region the former called home. It was time for her winter family reunion, and Rui, like all romantics, had wanted to _show Wes off_. Unfortunately, Wes, who had only ever seen a postcard of Rui's home, had no idea of what was in store for him. (He had also expressed _slight_ concerns over being an object of Show-and-Tell, but Rui hadn't listened – then again, she never listened to him. For example, when they first met, she had decided it would be a good idea to follow him into a variety of little wannabe Hells, despite his protests).

This was one of the main reasons why he hadn't understood what was going on when Rui dragged him around Phenac, shopping for clothes so thick that he felt a bit like Frosty the Snover. Of course, when he'd finally arrived into the blizzard, he'd realized that he didn't have enough.

If there was one thing he was going to take away from this, it would be a profound sense of hatred for snow. It didn't matter what kind of snow, either. Falling snow, fallen snow, the balls of snow that Rui's painfully annoying little cousin would sling at them, the patches of it Rui would tackle him into, the large clumps she would pour down his back, it didn't matter.

And so, Wes, who was _technically_ Rui's guest, and who was, therefore, _technically_ unable to do anything without her permission (like, say, break out a flamethrower or three), had decided to plant himself on the least snow covered surface available. Unfortunately, this left him leaning unhappily against the wall, as just about this entire section of the PLANET was covered in the stuff.

"Oh, come on, Wes! Have some fun!"

"I am having fun. I'm imagining going back to nice, warm Orre."

Rui rolled her eyes impatiently. "What, you can't stand two weeks in the snow?"

"No, I can't!"

"Do you think you need more jackets?"

Wes groaned. "Some people choose to dress like royalty. You, on the other hand, have dressed me like a CASTLE. And I'm _still_ cold. I'm just not used to this kind of weather, and I'd _really_ like to go back inside."

"Well, I'd _really_ like to stay out here!" retorted Rui.

Wes briefly glanced at the girl's younger cousin, who was rolling around in the snow, laughing uproariously at the scene of the petite redhead arguing with someone who looked like he stepped out of a cyberpunk anime. A really BAD cyberpunk anime.

"Well, fine. You stay, I'll go."

"Nuh uh. I stay, you stay."

Wes was _really_ getting annoyed by the cousin's excessive giggling at this point. Apparently Rui caught on to his frustrations (more than likely, she had seen him seething at her younger family member), because she sashayed up to him and whispered something in his ear.

"Look," she said softly. "I know you don't like it out here, and I know I've put you through a lot. And I also know that you like to be _thanked_ for what you do, every now and then."

Wes was briefly aware of the horrified expression the cousin was sporting as Rui's arms wrapped around his neck. The sound of her disgusted squeal as she ran into the house was just enough music to his ears to make him smile into the kiss he was now sharing with the redhead in his arms.

"Okay," said Rui after they had broken apart. "I think you've had enough."

"Thank you."

"Let's go inside and get warmed up, okay?"

Wes sighed. "That would be _wonderful_." He turned around and began to walk back inside when Rui's voice stopped him again.

"But first, you really shouldn't stop and look up."

Wes had just enough time to disregard the advice before a massive pile of snow plowed into him from above.

As he dug himself out of the drift, he suddenly decided on a way to warm up really effectively.

A little game of Cat and Mouse wouldn't hurt Rui any more than the snow had hurt him, now would it?


	23. One Hundred Little Words

Lucian briefly wondered how he should approach the subject.

Amazingly, she hadn't noticed it yet. But, to him, it was glaring like a massive red stop sign.

He tried to go back to what he was eating, to go back to the expensive, fancy meal.

He failed miserably, his eyes drawn inexplicably into that glaring red against her pale skin. He couldn't understand how his date hadn't noticed it herself, when he couldn't avoid it at all.

…Cynthia finally had had enough, and stared straight at him. "Okay, spill. What exactly ARE you staring at?"

"That ketchup on your nose."


	24. Nature

Whitney loved nature. She really did. She loved to sit and observe it from a distance, which is what she firmly believed was what Nature intended.

Jimmy, on the other hand, loved nature in a slightly different way. Jimmy's idea of loving nature involved various forms of suicidal outdoor interactivity like climbing cliff faces with nothing more than his bare hands, bicycling down very steep inclines, or leaping off of tall cliffs with what appeared to be a café awning. Whitney remembered one episode (with no great thrill) in which her baseball-cap-wearing boyfriend had managed to talk her into climbing an absurdly massive and dangerous tree, which had been (and probably still was) surrounded by the corpses of the assorted tree-dwelling pokémon that had fallen to their doom while trying to climb it. Like pachirisu.

One time, Jimmy had taken her to meet a friend of his who lived way out in some township west of Mount Chimney (population: Jimmy's friend). Jimmy's friend ran a small business called Nature's Thrills, which took advantage of naïve tourists (like Whitney) and outgoing adventurers (like Jimmy), and sent them, oddly enough, into Nature to experience its Thrills, generally by way of stuffing them into small pieces of wood called kayaks and shooting them down the Big Local River, which was both very scenic and about the same temperature as liquid nitrogen, at a velocity that would put the Millennium Fearow to shame. Whitney discovered that the kayak was a small boat that got its name from the Eskimo words ''kay,'' meaning ''boat,'' and ''ak,'' meaning that should not be occupied by anybody who is not a licensed Eskimo.''

Along for the ride were Kamon and Jasmine, and together the group had pooled enough money to rent an RV that was, going downhill, capable of traveling about eight feet on one gallon of gasoline.

They'd brought their pokémon with them. "Never bring your pokémon outdooring with you", Whitney learned, was an ancient rule of outdoorsy activities. She happened to learn this when the group stopped to buy gas, and her snubbull puppy was performing the vital canine action of jumping up and down and yipping at everyone to come back. While doing this, Snubbull had managed to press the button that locked all the doors. In the sweltering heat of the desert, Kamon and Jimmy had begun to suggest names for the puppy as they sought vainly to get the pokémon to rectify its mistake. These names were not necessarily limited to "Good Boy".

Once the group of four had completed their cross-country endeavor, they met with Jimmy's friend, who lent them a guide. The guide was very pleasant, Whitney remembered, and had done his best not to make it obvious when she and Jasmine put their helmets on backwards.

Then, each person got into their own kayak, and while Jimmy and Kamon got the hang of steering theirs, the girls quickly discovered that _their_ kayaks were the loyal subjects of the Big Local River when they realized no matter how hard they paddled in whatever direction, their boats simply followed the instructions of the BLR. Namely, Go Downstream Now!

Whitney found within the first few minutes that she and Jasmine had accidentally made a wrong turn, not entirely of their own volition, that had them traveling down not the Class 1 Rapids (Easy), but the Class 3 Rapids (Not Always Terminally Disposed). Whitney proceeded downstream by way of the classic kayaking technique of closing her eyes, so that the river couldn't see her. Not to name any names, but she remembered Jasmine falling out of her boat. Luckily, Kamon and Jimmy arrived to save the day, otherwise the Olivine Gym Leader might have been carried out to the ocean to be spawned upon by aggressive male Seaking heading upstream (and goodness knows Kamon wouldn't like that).

After that, the river got fairly calmer, and the boys were able to guide the girls to safety. Whitney found that, oddly enough, she enjoyed the experience, and asked Jimmy to take her again, sometime. She'd like to see what it was like on the easier rapids.

"Sure," Jimmy said with a grin. "Provided your eyes are open."

THWACK.

"OWCH!!"

* * *

Notes: Major Credit goes to a certain Dave Barry for this one.


	25. Priceless

Lucas looked at his reflection in the mirror, checking his pockets for the third time in thirty seconds. He straightened his bow tie again, running his slightly warmer than usual hands down his shirt, trying to press out imaginary wrinkles.

**Tuxedo: 30,000 Poké**

He cleared his throat nervously, and then cleared it again, glancing at his pokétch repeatedly.

"Is somebody a little nervous?" teased Damion from a few feet away (out of reach). "You've been planning this for only, what, a few months, now?"

Lucas wasn't listening – he had just realized he wasn't wearing any shoes.

**Black Patent Leather Shoes: 5,000 Poké**

"Dude!" Damion laughed. "Just cool it! It's only a birthday party!"

"Yeah, well," muttered Lucas, "_You're_ not the one getting down on his knee, now are you?"

"He's gotcha there, Blondie," chuckled Kenny from a corner of the room.

"Shut up, Redhead," retorted Damion childishly.

"Someone tell me why I'm here, again?" muttered Paul from yet another corner.

"Well," said Ash cheerfully from where he and Brock were sitting on the couch, "_We_ – as in Kenny, Damion, Brock, and myself – are here to give Lucas the support he needs for tonight. _You_, on the other hand, are here to keep Damion and Kenny from tearing each other apart."

**Your Friends Flying Out to Help You: 36,900 Poké**

"Great. I'm the hired help."

"Well, if you'd like to be more involved," offered Brock, "you could always trade places with Lucas."

"Not on a bet," snorted Paul. "I'm not that brave… or that stupid."

"Are you going to keep teasing me or are you going to help me FIND MY SHOES?!" demanded Lucas, who was frantically scrambling around on his hands and knees.

**Support from the Guys: Priceless**

* * *

The night air was a little chillier than normal, Dawn thought as she sat back in her seat, distractedly twirling her hair. Her friends knew, from experience, all of Dawn's habits – when she twirled her hair, she was nervous beyond all reason.

**Permanent Wave from the Best Salon in Sinnoh: 15,300 Poké**

"Okay," said Zoey, running through a timetable-slash-checklist she had written up earlier that day. "The venue's been booked; the club's all ready for the party; the boys are setting up; and you, Dawn, are a mess."

Wrong thing to say.

"WHAT?!" screeched Dawn. "What is it?! Is it my hair, my outfit—" Dawn was frenzied, running around the room in a panic.

"No, it's none of that, Dawn," said Zoey calmly. Without looking up from her checklist, she lifted one hand and snagged her friend's shoulder, rendering her immobile. "It's you. You need to _calm down_. Everything's going to be all right!"

"Yeah, Dee Dee!" agreed Leona. "You don't have to worry! Well, okay, there _is_ a risk that he'll never want to speak to you again, and…"

"Shut _up_!" hissed Zoey as Dawn launched into a fresh wave of hysterics. Zoey succeeded in calming Dawn a second time by reminding her that ruining her dress at this point was probably _not_ a good idea.

**Little Black Dress for THE Night: 14,500 Poké**

"Okay," breathed Dawn, "Alright. I'm fine, I'm fine."

She glared at her empoleon when the massive penguin snorted loudly. "Some help YOU are."

The bird shrugged. He planned to just sit there and let things unfold. It was payback for being forced into this God-forsaken tie (how Leona managed to get it around his fins, he'd never know). For crying out loud, _pink_ was NOT his color.

"Let's ignore the bird," said May soothingly, "and keep going with what needs to be done. Leona, help me out with this, would you?"

"Coming!"

"You, too, Misty! Come on, we need to hurry!"

**The Girls Coming Out to Help: 32, 500 Poké**

"I still say this is going overboard," muttered the Cerulean City Gym Leader, who had taken a week off to come out. "It wasn't this difficult for me, at least."

"Yeah, well, that was because Ash did it for you," said May.

Dawn giggled. "I remember that! Ash was so nervous he actually tripped over his feet!"

"And into the pudding…" sighed Misty, "and the salad… and the Christmas cookies…"

"And we're not entirely sure Lucas will be that… uh, forward," said Leona. "Ever."

"Uh huh. Fine with me. Let's just get this over with."

"Oh, we're sorry we aren't letting you sneak away with Ash just yet," muttered Leona. "You'll have practically all night!"

"Wha?!" squeaked Misty. "Who s-said anything about me sneaking off with…?"

"You know," said Zoey, over the stuttering of the other redhead, "you'd think, what with them knowing each other for over sixteen years, stuff like this wouldn't happen."

**Support from the Girls: Priceless**

_

* * *

_

This is it.

The thought did nothing to comfort Johanna as she bustled around Hearthome's Phoenix Club. Officially, the main hall had been booked to celebrate Dawn's birthday. Then again, Team Galactic _officially_ used to be a philanthropic organization. A philanthropic organization with such good P.R. that, apparently, no one noticed the strange little men in space suits bearing the Team Galactic Logo that had been bustling around, getting involved in kidnapping and mass murder attempts.

**Renting the Main Hall of the Hearthome Phoenix Club for Tonight: 16,000 Poké**

Johanna caught herself mentally ranting just in time.

"Thomas J. Rowan!" she exclaimed. "Get your fingers AWAY from that icing!"

Caught red-handed, Professor Rowan stared blankly at the younger woman for a full five seconds before shoving his hands in his pocket and walking briskly (which here means "as close to a run as possible") away from the birthday cake.

"Figures," snorted Brendan Birch as he walked up beside Johanna. "Need anything else, Mrs. Berlitz?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Could you and the boys help Thomas make sure the silverware and all the plates are in order?"

**Catering by PiPiPi Services: 135,000 Poké**

"Gotcha, Mrs. B," said Brendan. "Hey, Wally! Aaron! Get over here for a second, will you?"

Johanna didn't stop to watch the boys and the Professor get to work on the plates. She was too busy running over to help a certain group of five people who were discussing the nature of the decorations.

…"Discussing" being a bit of an understatement.

"…And why can't there be red streamers?" demanded Buck loudly. "What's wrong with red?"

"Because," said Mira cheerfully as she stepped around him, "between your hair and your general outlook on life – which, I remind you, is something along the lines of 'beat down first, ask questions later' – you have all the red we'll ever need."

Riley snorted.

"Okay, what's the problem now?" sighed Johanna is she walked up to them.

"The children can't decide what color they want," Riley said with a smile.

"What do you mean '_children'_?" demanded Buck.

"Your devastating immaturity, perhaps?" suggested Marley as she consulted the menu over Cheryl's shoulder.

"It has to be," agreed Mira with a cheeky grin. "'Cause we all know Marley has no problem whatsoever with your physical age."

**Decorations for the Party: 8,950 Poké**

Riley looked at Johanna as the group fell instantly silent (with Marley frozen, Cheryl hiding a laugh by biting her finger, Mira grinning triumphantly, and Buck at an utter loss for words), ticking off five seconds with his fingers before speaking.

"Well, how about we go with blue?" suggested Riley. "Dawn likes blue, right? Maybe with some black? It's a bit more grown up."

"That sounds like a good idea, Riley. Thank you!"

Johanna walked away, another problem solved, to where another woman was standing.

"Oh, hi there, Jo! Is everything going okay?" asked Delia Ketchum. "Riley IS behaving himself, right?"

"Oh, he's fine!" giggled Johanna. "It's Buck and Mira, that's all."

"I wish Mira would leave the poor boy alone," sighed Delia.

"Oh, so long as Riley keeps a lid on things, there shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Yeah, well, Buck and Mira have a tendency to wrap him up in things like this," muttered the brunette.

"You can send him to his room later," said Johanna. "Come on, we have a twenty-third birthday party to start!"

**Putting Everything Together: Priceless**

* * *

"Okay, are you ready?" asked Damion.

The boys were all standing together at the front door of the Phoenix Club, or, rather, Lucas was standing at the door, and the others had all grouped behind him to keep him from running.

"Yeah, I'm ready," said Lucas solemnly. He stared at the open doorway, and his foot lifted off of the ground… and then it swung around and landed to the left of where he was standing, and suddenly he was walking away.

**Cowardice: 0 Poké**

"Oh, no, you don't, Romeo," growled Paul, seizing Lucas by his tie. "If I have to baby-sit Blondie and Red, YOU have to go through with this."

Lucas groaned a little as the others grabbed him and walked with him through the door (to the average bystander, it looked like they were walking as a normal, happy group into the party — no one could see that five different hands had grabbed a hold of Lucas and were dragging him in).

The doors into the party were swung wide open, and Lucas could already see dozens of people milling about and talking amiably as Brendan, Wally, and Aaron played music from the stage.

**Performance by the Asgard Vigil: 9,000 Poké**

Lucas, firmly aware that escape was a rapidly disintegrating possibility, walked slowly into the room, casually glancing around. Damion and Kenny exchanged grins – Lucas was that much closer.

"Uh, guys?" Brock began. "It looks like Lucas could use a little… assistance."

"Ah, _sheesh_…" Damion muttered, following the older man's gaze.

Lucas had just caught sight of Dawn from across the room, and, judging from his thunderstruck expression, he wasn't going to be letting go without some help.

"You know," said Kenny, "If you leave your mouth hanging open like that, some Starly might just make a nest in there."

"Shut up," muttered Professor Rowan's Head Assistant as he regained his senses.

"Well," urged Damion, "go on!"

Feeling far less sure of himself than he tried to look, Lucas Ironwood moved slowly across the floor to where Dawn was sitting with her friends.

"500 Poké says he never makes it," suggested Paul. "Any takers?"

**Temptation: 500 Poké**

Damion wasn't listening. "Hey, Brock? Brock. Brock, come back here!"

"Don't bother," muttered Ash as he watched the older man walk off to where a particularly attractive young woman was standing. "He's _so_ gone... Uh oh…"

"Hi, Ash!" said Misty cheerfully, who had walked up unnoticed. "Enjoying the party? How are you doing, Pikachu?"

Pikachu chirped and waved happily.

"Uh, sure," said Ash, knowing that the group was soon to be without another member – not knowing _how_, per se, but knowing, nonetheless. "How about you?"

"Oh, it's fine. Hey, you know that some people are dancing?"

Ash looked vacantly over to the dance floor. "Yes, they are."

The slightest hint of an irked expression crossed Misty's face. "Well, aren't you going to ask me to join you joining them?"

Ash only managed to sputter a thoroughly bewildered "Huh?" before a rather irritated Misty grabbed her fiancée by the lapels of his coat and dragged him away, to his pikachu's great hilarity.

"Minus two," muttered Paul.

"Did he even TRY to fight her off?" asked Damion, who had never met Misty face-to-face before.

"She's Misty," explained Lucas, who had. "You don't fight her off. Not unless you want to wake up in the Emergency Room, you don't."

"Ah. Okay."

"Well, Gents," said Kenny. "Let's shove on."

Paul looked away for a moment, and then at Damion and Kenny. "Naw. I'm gonna go enjoy the party. Good luck, you three!"

"Hey, WAIT!! Paul! Come back… aw, nevermind," muttered the blonde as Paul walked away to where Zoey was standing and smiling invitingly at him.

**Lack of Responsibility: 0 Poké**

"Wonderful," muttered Kenny. "Just… peachy."

"Quit whining and help me push!" grunted Damion, who had pressed up against Lucas' back, attempting to move the now frozen man.

Muttering to himself, Kenny joined the blonde as they attempted to guide their friend through large crowds of people, not necessarily explaining what they were doing (as if people didn't know), and praying that the large crowds wouldn't give way to someone like Mira.

Then again… if you speak of the Devil, he'll pay you a visit.

"So, boys," giggled Mira in that ever-so-annoying singsong voice that little kids seem to master at age three as she skipped over to them. "What'cha doin'?"

Or she. Whatever.

"Nothing!" said Damion instantly, standing straight up. "Nothing worth your notice or attention."

"You liar," said Mira.

"Why are you here, anyway?" asked Damion, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Hey, Riley made me promise not to bother Buck and Marley tonight, so I'm compensating."

"Wait," said Damion slowly as he looked at Mira. "Was that Buck OR Marley, or Buck AND Marley?"

Mira's grin was so fundamentally evil that it gave Lucas shivers. "'And'."

"I'll be, uh… right back," said Damion as his smile grew to match Mira's. "Kenny, you can handle Lucas for a few minutes, can't you?"

Lucas glared at Damion as he disappeared into the crowd, adjusting his orange Pokétch.

Traitor.

Mira stepped back a few paces and out of sight, but as Lucas and Kenny exchanged glances awkwardly, her presence (and camera) hung over them like a cloud.

"Well," muttered Kenny, "the night's still young: everyone else was taken in just fifteen minutes."

**A Failed Effort to Raise Spirits: 0 Poké**

"I hope that wasn't an attempt to make me feel better," growled Lucas as he marched forward. "Because, it didn't work."

"Well, excuse me for trying to be positive! You're the one who's being a coward and going nuts!"

Lucas turned to stare at Kenny.

"A coward?! Dude, I'm about to ask Dawn to share her life and soul with mine until our death, a hopefully very, very long time. I'm about to ask her to become a member of my family on one of the most fundamental levels of natural law. I'm about to ask her to potentially bear and raise children that we create together! I'm about to ask her to _freaking_ MARRY me! Of course, I'm going nuts!!" he hissed.

Kenny stepped back, a little scared by how much Lucas resembled a tyranitar, even if it was only for a moment.

"Well, okay, then. You have my best wishes, friend, and I wish you luck."

"Huh? Why?" Lucas blinked confusedly.

"Because," said Leona as her arms wrapped (Lucas wasn't sure to differentiate between aggressively or affectionately – or even if he should) around Kenny's neck. "Loverboy, here, promised me an early dance. I'm going to take advantage of that, thank yew!"

Kenny shrugged apologetically as he was steered forcefully away by his girlfriend. His course ended up passing by Mira, and he noticed something.

"Hey," said Kenny slowly as he looked over. "That Pokétch of yours wouldn't happen to have the new Video Application, would it?"

"You got it!" giggled the teenage girl.

Lucas groaned piteously as he looked at the light yellow watch aimed at him. "_Mira…!_"

**Getting the Whole Thing on Hi-Def Video: Priceless**

* * *

Dawn sighed to herself, a "little" scared about her plans for tonight. This was really a LOT of trouble for what she had planned, but between her mom and her friends, she had been roped into it.

She remembered suggesting her idea to Zoey one evening a few weeks ago, and then Zoey's elation at tweaking it, and the her mom's and Leona's deciding to input, and suddenly just about all of her girlfriends planning to make this one of the most romantic events EVER. And all she'd wanted was a small, quiet walk, maybe some dinner at one of the picturesque restaurants she'd seen in a postcard way back when.

**Postcard from Valor Lakefront Hotel: 350 Poké**

She looked up from where she was sitting, and her face and shoulders sagged with utter despair. Lucas was surrounded by a freaking ENTOURAGE of guys! There was no way that she'd get to him, now!

"Don't worry," said Zoey calmly. "We'll take care of them."

As the redhead coordinator turned to the others, it was remarkable how much she resembled a rugby captain. "Okay, Misty, you take Ash – goodness knows he can't help himself around you. What do we do about Brock, now? He'll walk away on his own? Okay, good. Leona, Kenny's yours, but on the way, see if you can get Mira to help distract Damion. Hm? Well, Maylene's not here tonight, that's why. Gym Leader duties. What do you mean, what about Paul? He couldn't care less, trust me. Oh, fine, I'll take care of him. May, you just keep Brendan happy. We do NOT want him meddling. Goodness knows what'll happen if he does."

Dawn smiled gratefully as her friends walked away. She glanced at her plate, picking a few pieces from it miserably. Feeling no better, she twiddled the bracelet Lucas had given her for her eighteenth birthday, with the silver chain jingling against the _diamonds_ set into it.

**Diamond Bracelet: 45,000 Poké**

She glanced up from where she was sitting just in time to catch Misty approaching the group. She couldn't hear a word they were saying, but between Misty getting angry and Ash staring stupidly at the dance floor, she could guess. She lapsed into a small fit of giggles as Misty dragged the young man away from the group, forcefully put his left hand to her hip and held his other a foot-and-a-half away from shoulder level, and essentially hauled him around the wooden floor in a pattern likened to some distant cousin of the circle.

She looked a bit to the left and found that Riley and Delia were dancing far more gracefully, although, judging from the way Delia's hand gripped her husband's shoulder and the way that Riley's eyes strayed every once in a while to the buffet, there wasn't much difference between them and the younger pair.

Over in another corner, Brendan and May were dancing slowly to the song – Wally had opted for a few piano solos when the group had finished their opening number. Dawn felt a small pang of jealousy, wishing she was out there with Lucas, too. Aaron was over at the buffet table, doing his best to balance between imitating a pelipper and keeping his suit clean.

She picked up her wine glass and placed it to her lips, only to spray its contents out ungracefully when someone behind her said, "Hi, Dawn!"

**Totally Shot Nerves: 0 Poké**

"Hi… Cynthia!" Dawn squeezed out between coughs. "How are you?"

"Lucian and I are great! Happy twenty-third!"

Cynthia gave Dawn a firm hug and then Lucian shook her hand politely.

"How's the party?" asked the older man.

"Oh, it's great! Everything's great. Great, great, great. Just about everyone showed up, and they're all enjoying themselves. Just a great time all around."

Cynthia paused for a moment, and then turned to her husband. "Lucian, go get something to eat for me, would you?"

"Excuse me?" The psychic-type Pokémon Trainer looked blankly at his wife. "You just had two full plates!"

Cynthia glared impatiently at the bespectacled man. "Lucian Terrance Bowyer, I don't believe you understand what's going on. Allow me to explain. Six months ago, you and I made a promise to each other. That promise has manifested itself in this large mass now causing my stomach to swell out like a pod of wailord. In addition to _you_ making _me_ overwhelmingly fat, you also managed to multiply the number of people I eat for. And if you don't get me some more food RIGHT NOW, I will show you a third way in which you've changed the way I live. UNDERSTAND?!"

"Yes, ma'am!" squeaked Lucian before hurrying off to do his wife's bidding.

**Health Insurance: 9,000 Poké per Month**

"AND IF YOU SKIP OUT ON ANYTHING, I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE!! ...Oy vey, men!" Cynthia sighed and plopped down into a chair next to Dawn, who was staring at the blonde woman with a strange mix of admiration and fear. "So, how are you? Is Lucas here?"

"Oh, he's over there," said Dawn, pointing to where Mira had approached Lucas, Damion, and Kenny.

"…You know, I've never seen Damion smile like that."

"Oh, it's probably something to do with Buck," muttered Dawn. "They've been trying to one-up each other for thirteen years."

"Boys will be boys," groaned Cynthia. "And how's yours? More obedient than Lucian is, I hope. …Kidding! Just kidding!" she giggled as Dawn registered a double-take. "Has he talked to you tonight yet?"

"No, he hasn't," sighed Dawn.

"Well, why not? Did you two have a falling out?"

"Not that I remember!" Dawn said.

"Hey, hey… chill. Don't worry about it. He'll get here, as soon as he stops arguing with Kenny, probably. Do you two have any plans? For tonight, or maybe even the future?"

**Engagement Ring: 50,000 Poké**

Dawn blushed a little. "Well, I'm not sure yet. Lucas hasn't brought up the subject. Actually, he's been a little out of it for the last few months, now that I think of it. He's always nervous, like there's something he wants to say, but he never does. I can't help think… do you think he wants to break up with me but doesn't want to tell me because it'll hurt my feelings?"

Cynthia stared at Dawn for a few seconds, and then burst out laughing. "And I thought being pregnant put strange thoughts into _my_ head! Come on, Dawn, be serious. Lucas wouldn't do that! He's been madly in love with you for years! Sheesh, one time he and Lucian were talking on the phone, and he wouldn't shut UP about you! He being Lucas, of course," she added with a slight glance at her husband.

Dawn couldn't help the question that jumped out of her mouth. "What's it like?"

"What, listening to Lucas and Lucian talk? It's _awful_. Half the time, they follow each other down tangents that take them from topics like the biggest watmel berries they've ever seen to some obscure eight-bit Super Mario Brothers glitch."

"No!" giggled Dawn before again becoming sober. "I mean, what's it like being married and stuff? Does it hurt to be pregnant? What about being compatible? What if Lucas and I aren't like you and Lucian?"

Cynthia stared for a moment before beaming at the younger woman. "It's wonderful. Goodness knows, you have to get used to a few things about your husband, but that's what it's about! Oh, and for future reference, do NOT listen to those freaking Cosmopolitan magazines. Or People. Or any others, for that matter. They do NOT know what marriage is. Lesson One: Man is, by definition, NOT compatible with Woman. Do not try to change that; it won't work. Trust me, I know. Believe me, trying to live life according to magazine-world rules will only screw you over. And if you and Lucas are going to get married, you will want to ditch them."

Dawn smiled a little as Cynthia continued her little rant. After a moment, though, the blonde woman noticed the former couldn't help but stare at her midriff. "Dawn, being pregnant is wonderful. You have to train your husband to get things done for you, but once they graduate from obedience school, you've got it in the bag for most of nine months."

"Is it a he or a she?" asked Dawn, tentatively patting Cynthia's stomach.

"I don't know," said Cynthia. "I want to find out when it happens."

"What will you name it when it happens?"

**Book of Names: 1,100 Poké**

"Well, Lucian and I figured on Dana if it's a girl, and if it's a boy, then Lucius."

Dawn paused for a second, mulling over the names, and then… "Hey, wait a second! That's almost like–"

"Dawn and Lucas?" giggled Cynthia. "We were hoping you'd notice."

"So your baby's gonna sorta be named after one of us?"

"Something like that."

Dawn squeaked happily and seized the older woman in a hug. "That is so cool!"

Cynthia patted Dawn awkwardly on the head, and then felt her freeze stiff when she heard a new voice.

"What's so cool?"

**The Irony of It All: Priceless**

* * *

Lucas had finally mustered up the courage to get within a few feet of Dawn (no thanks to his "friends", mind you). He'd been standing off to the side, searching for a way to get her attention, and gambled.

He lost, apparently, judging from the way Dawn shrieked in surprise and jumped back, ending up with her elbow planted squarely in her plate of spaghetti. More specifically, in the sauce.

**Dry Cleaning for the Dress: 5,000 Poké**

"Oh, shoot!" muttered Lucas. "I'm sorry! Here, let me get that!"

He quickly tried to get a napkin to help clean up the mess he caused, but between him trying to help, and Dawn, who wanted to avoid too much a scene, trying to fend him off, not much was happening. Except, of course, for Cynthia laughing her head off.

"Lucas!" growled Dawn. "Stop! I've got it!"

"You sure?"

"YES! Now just sit down and let me get it!"

Deciding not to do much more to get on her bad side, Lucas obediently parked himself in a chair beside her. He watched her finish cleaning her elbow off, and what she could of her dress. Luckily, the sauce was almost unnoticeable, except for a slight discoloration that would only show if Dawn decided to start walking around with her right arm sticking straight up like a flagpole.

Nonetheless, a stain was a stain, and Dawn was going to need to remind Lucas of that.

…Wait.

LUCAS?

"Oh, h-hi, Lucas!" Dawn stuttered, caught off guard. "S-sorry about that."

"N-no problem," Lucas stuttered back. "How are you?"

(Cynthia wished very much that she had that Video App for her own Pokétch – this was just too _cute_!)

There was a slightly awkward silence, in which Cynthia decided to leave them to themselves with only a few gentle words of parting. ("LUCIAN! WHERE'S MY FOOD?!" were her exact words).

Lucas glanced awkwardly around, not entirely sure about what kind of conversation to start. As he searched, he made the mistake of opening his mouth and looking at Dawn at the same time. In an instant, all the emotions of the past few months seemed to swell out, so, while he had planned to make small talk by complimenting her on how she looked – "Your dress looks good on you" – what instead came out was more along the lines of "Glaarg."

**High-Class Sinnoh University Education: 19,958,000 Poké**

Neither remotely professional nor remotely similar to what he'd intended.

Luckily, the bizarre nature of Lucas'… uh, statement was enough to snap Dawn out of it.

"I'm sorry, what?" she said slowly. "Lucas, you okay?"

Lucas, fairly sure he looked like the biggest fool on the planet, sought valiantly to correct his mistake. "NO! I mean, yes! I mean, sort of. I mean… It's _really_ hot in here, and I'd really like to go outside. Is that okay?"

Dawn, just a tad bewildered, nodded slowly, and followed Lucas outside.

"So, what's up?" she asked as Lucas leaned nonchalantly against the railing. "Everything okay?"

Lucas looked at her and smiled. "Yeah. I'm alright."

Dawn took one look at his smile and melted like butter. Well, okay, she didn't _really_ melt (that would've been weird), but she certainly felt much lighter, and a LOT warmer.

She scooted over a little closer to him, smiling as he put his arms around her, and gave him a tight squeeze.

"How's the party?" she asked. "Everything okay?"

"It's great."

Dawn bit her lip anxiously. "You're not just saying that, are you?"

Lucas looked at her oddly. "Why would I just be saying that?"

"I don't know! I'm just, I dunno, out of it, tonight."

"You, too?" Lucas chuckled. "Go figure."

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing."

Lucas reached behind Dawn's head and scratched it a little, smiling at her cooing noise. The following silence just seemed to fit, for a moment.

"I missed you," Dawn said suddenly. "When you weren't here, earlier."

"Sorry about that," said Lucas. "I was in a bit of a bind." _That's one way to put it_.

"Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah," said Lucas. "Now that I'm with you."

**Cheesy Romance Novelette: 800 Poké**

"A cliché-ist," giggled Dawn, thumping him lightly. "That's what you are."

"Well, you just have that effect on me, I guess."

Dawn looked shrewdly at her lover. "I'm going to put that little comment down to a compliment, but you oughta know I'm assuming that you were having a moment of klutzy sweetness."

Lucas chuckled to himself. "Saved by my inherent good looks, once ag– OOF."

"Watch yourself, boy," growled Dawn playfully, withdrawing her fist from his gut.

Lucas groaned a little, leaning back against the railing. He briefly wondered why he ever thought it would be _difficult_ to pop the question to Dawn.

"Dang, woman! Just pound my internal contents out onto the sidewalk, why don't you?"

"'Cause that would be gross," giggled Dawn, friskily rubbing her nose against Lucas'. "I have no desire to see your spleen."

"Oh, well," muttered Lucas. "I'm glad to hear that one of us is against it."

"You know me," replied Dawn. "Always one for a lack of hideousness."

Lucas chuckled and lightly kissed the girl in his arms. He briefly enjoyed the sensation of her shivering lips against his own, and then pulled back a bit to look at her eyes. He gulped audibly and opened his mouth a little.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," said Lucas, just a tad disappointed in being cut-off. Glad for the relief, yes, but still a little upset at himself.

"How much do you love me?"

Of all the things that he had ever expected to have been asked, that was not one of them.

"A… a lot, I guess."

"You _guess_?"

"Well, yeah," stammered Lucas.

"You don't _know_ how much you love me?"

"Well, a lot! I love you a lot!"

"How much is a lot?"

"Are you expecting some kind of _measurable quantity_?" Lucas wondered bewilderedly. This was rapidly going downhill.

"Well, maybe I am!"

"Why?" asked Lucas blankly. "You've never seemed to care, before."

"Well, I never was about to ask you to marry me, before, either!"

**That Little Awkward Silence: 0 Poké**

"…What?" asked Lucas, praying that he'd misheard.

His prayers were to go unanswered, however.

"I said, 'I never was about to ask you to marry me, before'." Dawn was close to tears, absolutely sure that whatever had just happened was the worst foul-up in the history of foul-ups.

Biting her lip, Dawn turned around abruptly and stepped away. Without a single word, she drew the small black box out into the open from where she had hidden it and placed it gently on the railing.

"I'm sor-_hic_-ry," she whispered. "This must be so -_hic_- awkward for you, and -_hic_-… and… and _why_, exactly, are you laughing? Lucas -_hic_- Ja–_hic!–_mes Ironwood, you nimrod, stop laughing! It's hard enough to have an emotional moment with the -_hic!_-hiccups, and you laughing your guts out isn't -_HIC_- isn't helping things!"

Lucas couldn't help himself. He was leaning over the railing, guffawing like some buffon. Tears were streaming down his face and dropping like rain onto the sidewalk. He paused long enough to catch sight of Dawn's incomprehension, and then began to roll even harder with laughter. His entire body was shaking uncontrollably, and Dawn had just about had it.

"Just WHAT is so funny?" she demanded angrily. "I don't think I did or said anything funny."

"You didn't!" laughed Lucas. "You didn't do anything!"

Having squeezed out the statement, he went right back to laughing like a lunatic. Dawn briefly wondered about his mental state, and stepped slowly away. And then she saw what he had fished out of his coat pocket and placed on the railing.

It was a small, velvety black box with rounded edges, identical in size to hers. Her lip trembled for a moment as she looked at what was inside, and then she, too, burst out laughing.

And there they stood, two idiots laughing at themselves and at each other, at everything and nothing. Dawn launched herself into Lucas' arms, snuggling up against him and giggling like a schoolgirl. Caught in the thrill of the moment, she briefly wondered what it felt like to kiss a laughing person.

So she found out. She liked it.

They remained that way for a while, and then when they finally finished laughing, they smiled gently at each other. Dawn glanced admiringly at Lucas' ring choice, loving how the white gold looked on her finger, and loving how Lucas wore his proudly, and loving him and everything that he was.

...Of course, this moment would never last. The higher beings would've never allowed it.

"DAMION HEARTWOOD, YOU FREAK!!" came the sound of Buck's bellowing voice. "COME BACK HERE SO I CAN MURDER YOU!!"

Like a crobat out of Hell, Damion shot out of the doorway, slammed into Dawn, muttered apologies incoherently and shot away, unaware that he had just knocked his best female friend (who was now the fiancée of his best MALE friend, by the way) over into the fountain on the floor below them. Not too long after, Buck followed suit: out the door, into Lucas, muttered apologies, and away again.

Lucas quickly found himself immersed in water. Luckily, the fountain was deep enough to prevent serious injury. He struggled over to the rim of the fountain, where Dawn had given up on trying remaining presentable. He wrapped an arm around her affectionately, and they both looked up to the heights above where Buck was chasing Damion.

"So, who do you think's going to win?" asked Lucas as if this happened every day. "Buck or Damion?"

"Neither," answered Dawn, knowing full well that it did. "My bet's on Marley."

With a sudden yelp, both men flew over the railing and into the water. Sputtering and coughing, they looked up to see a laughing Dawn and Lucas laughing their heads off.

If there was one thing either of the pair took away from tonight, it was this:

**God's Sense of Humor: Priceless**

* * *

Notes:

Clzh: Okay, now that that's over with, we're going to answer some questions.

X: So pay attention!

1) Most of you noticed a slight blend of Anime and Game canon. That's a good thing. It was intentional.

1a) **Characters from the Anime** (in order of appearance): Kenny, Paul, Ash, Zoey, Leona, Empoleon, Delia, Pikachu.

1b) **Characters from the Game** (in order of appearance): Lucas, Damion, Brendan, Wally, Aaron, Buck, Riley, Marley

1c) **Characters from both** (as according to this point in the anime timeline; in order of appearance): Brock, Dawn, May, Misty, Johanna, Professor (T. J.) Rowan, Mira, Cheryl, Cynthia, Lucian

2) **Alternate (more or less) Relationships**: Ash–Misty, Riley–Delia, Brendan–May, Kenny–Leona, Buck–Marley (implied), Damion–Maylene (somewhat implied), Zoey–Paul (we don't know how, either).

3) **Asgard Vigil? What's Asgard Vigil?** The Asgard Vigil was a name we gave to a band formed by Brendan, Wally, and Aaron. We thought about it for a while, and decided to give them musical (and other forms of performance art) talent. The name was just thrown together from a couple of words we thought were cool.

4) **And on that note, WHO'S AARON?!** That, friends, is actually a cool little piece of trivia we decided to throw in. Spoiler Alert! In the game Pokémon Emerald, once you reach the Battle Frontier, you can take on, of all things, an apprentice, one of the trainers at the Battle Frontier. The most game-canonical apprentice would be the Bug Catcher class trainer, whose name is, oddly enough, Aaron. Now, those of you with a sense of irony may or may not have figured out the parallels between THIS Aaron, the Battle Frontier Apprentice, and the member of the Sinnoh Elite Four of the same name, who trains – get ready for it – Bug-Type Pokémon. Yeah, weird, huh? I have no idea if they have the same name in the Japanese version, but the irony would be delicious, wouldn't it?

5) **See you later!** We're all going to be gone for a long time after we post this, and we apologize for the heartache it will bring some of you. We'll miss you!


	26. Valentine

It was Valentine's Day at the Sandgem Preschool, and a three-year-old Dawn, instead of buying cheap valentines for all the classmates, had made only two or five (she hadn't quite pulled off the art of figures just yet) that she personally cut and designed for her friends.

She had been planning on giving one to Kenny and one to Leona and one to Damion, and Dawn had wanted to make sure no one was left out, so had made her mommy check and triple-check she had enough. Once she was certain, she stuffed them all into her bag, donned her cap and toddled purposefully to the car, waiting for her mom to drive her to school.

Johanna, who had worked at the preschool until Dawn was born, had seen many a Valentine's Day come and go, and was thus expecting two things to occur. One, the girls would all be scrambling over each other to ram as many valentines as they could into all the boxes, whereas the boys would all be slinging cries of "Cooties!" at anything that moved, and brawling with each other to get out of the way of any girl looking in their direction. She thought it particularly brave of her child to break with custom.

Sure enough, as she drove into the parking lot, she could hear the cries of what might loosely be called "merrymaking" (or plain old havoc) emanate from the building. With a sigh, she let herself out of the car and walked around to open Dawn's door. "Now you be good, okay?" she said as Dawn bounced up and down in glee, waiting to be unbuckled. "Okay!" And then she was off like a shot, hopping, skipping, and jumping as she rushed into the building. Giggling, Johanna followed a tad more slowly; she still needed to sign Dawn in.

Once inside, Dawn looked around, trying to locate her friends in the myriad of children. This proved rather difficult, as the room was thrown into chaos. Where...? AHA! Dawn toddled quickly over to the corner where she found Kenny and Leona, as usual, bickering. "Hi hi!" giggled Dawn.

Kenny and Leona both turned away from each other in a huff, their faces red with what might've been anger, but might have been otherwise.

"Hi, Dawn!" said Leona cheerily, ignoring Kenny and his faces. "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Happy Valentime's Day!" said Dawn back, wholly ignorant of her mispronunciation as she handed out two red hearts.

"CHOCOLATE!" cried Kenny, who vigorously tore the Snicker's bar free of the paper and might've swallowed the whole thing, wrapper and all, if Leona hadn't slugged him. "Dopey! Read the heart first!"

Kenny, looking none too pleased with the red mark blossoming across his left cheek, muttered as he read the card under Leona's watchful eye. Upon completing this task, he proceeded to swallow the treat once more, though found himself rudely stopped by Leona. Again. "What do you say?!"

Now thoroughly annoyed, Kenny muttered a quick thank you, tore open the wrapper and downed the chocolate before Leona could hold him back. "Dank 'oo, Dee Dee," laughed Kenny through a mouthful.

Dawn swelled up in response. "I'm NOT Dee Dee!" she protested, harrumphing as only a three-year-old could, whirling around and marching away into the crowd, as Leona called out a thnak you as she whacked Kenny once again ("Dopey!"). She wouldn't stay angry with them; of course not, but she hated the name just the same.

Little Dawn scanned the crowd around her, dodging a thrown chalkboard eraser, and then found her target. "Damion! Hey, Damion! NO, DON'T RUN INTO ME- AAAHH!"

CRASH.

Dawn woozily tried to pick herself up. "Stupid Damion! Don't run intah me!"

"Don' stand in my way!" countered Damion, equally woozy as he got to his feet. "Whaddaya want?"

Dawn, now in an even worse mood, chucked her valentine at the blonde. "Stupid!"

"Wha'd I do?" demanded Damion, and then, "Ooh, CHOCOLATE!"

Rolling her eyes in utter frustration, Dawn stalked across the classroom and sat at a table. Stupid Valentine's Day. Why'd the boys all have to be so stupid?

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Boys were stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"No we're not."

Dawn, whirled around to see another boy sitting at the same table, his dark hair messy and unkempt. With a start, she realized she had no idea who he was; just the guy who sat in the corner all day, reading Play-doh.

"What do you want?" grumbled Dawn sullenly, crossing her arms in a huff and looking away.

"Nothin'," said the boy. "Just don't call me stupid."

Dawn looked at him, surprised. "Didn' say you were stupid."

"Sure you did. You said boys're stupid."

"Didn' mean you," said Dawn, a little mollified to discover she'd said it aloud. "Meant... boys."

"I AM a boy," said the preschooler, looking up from his play-doh book.

Dawn, knowing she wasn't going to win this argument, hastily struggled for a new topic. "Hey, why're you readin' play-doh?"

"Plato," corrected the boy.

Dawn, totally unfazed, continued. "Ooh, do they have neat pictures in there? Lemme see!"

Before he could shove her off, the poor toddler was forced to relinquish his favorite book to the loud girl, only to have it be tossed back to him indifferently. "There's no pictures!"

"Nope. Don't like 'em."

Dawn stared, horrified at the boy. "You don' like pictures?!"

"Nope. Like words more."

Apparently, the boy had decided the conversation was over, as he returned to his book. Totally unsatisfied with his decision, Dawn, who could think of at least five things to do better than reading stupid books, decided she would fix this problem.

"Hey, let's play!"

The boy looked at her weirdly. "Play what?"

"I dunno... ball?"

"No."

"Hopscotch?"

"Nope."

"Jump rope?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Well, what do you play with your friends?" asked Dawn, trying a different tactic.

"Don't have any friends," said the boy, turning away just a little.

Little Dawn was utterly horrified. "No friends? A-at all?!"

"Nope. I want to be alone. No friends, no valentines, no nothing."

The little boy set himself back to his book, trying to ignore the really annoying girl beside him, only to feel a small jug on his jacket. He looked over, and registered a double-take: Dawn was holding out the extra valentine she had made, smiling happily at him.

"I'll be your friend!"


	27. Bully

It was May's first day of preschool, and she'd been given a pretty new dress for the big day. May loved her new dress, partly because it was light blue, and partly because it was FLUFFY. She could make it twirl around her if she danced about in a circle, which was, for the three-year-old, pretty much the coolest thing EVER. Her mommy had to remind her to calm down a little so she wouldn't spoil the dress at preschool; she'd promised that she wouldn't.

Taking her mommy by the hand, May led the way down the road, around the corner, and up to the big, fancy Daycare building. Once inside, though, May squeezed her mother a quick good-bye and was off like a shot, a blue blur among a sea of blurs, kids running around, saying good-bye to their parents, some begging not to be left alone in this miserable hole... You know, the usual first day jitters.

Caroline Maple couldn't help but laugh to herself; May was certainly eager to make friends out here. She waved good-bye to her daughter, and turned to leave. May waved good-bye, and then turned back to her classmates.

"Okay, everyone! Listen up!"

May shuffled along with the rest of the class into some semblance of a square. She immediately became best friends with the girl she'd discovered sitting next to her, a girl named Anabel, whom she immediately began to strike up a conversation with. As they talked, May looked around, trying to see if there were any other people worth making friends with. The only person who caught her attention was a boy who seemed to have collapsed on his side.

Upon closer inspection, however, May discovered that he was merely asnooze. Much to Anabel's delight, she prodded him hard in the side. "Psst!" she whispered at the top of her voice. "Wake up!" Much to her dismay (and ire), the boy merely mumbled something and flopped a sleepy hand at her. Harrumphing audibly, she jabbed him harder in the side, and watched (with no small degree of satisfaction) him bolt up with a small yelp.

"Whatchoo do that for?" mumbled the boy, looking sulllenly at her.

"Ya shouldn't sleep here, dummy," May informed him with a definite layer of matter-of-fact in her tone. "You should be awake and pay attention!"

"You're absolutely right, May!" said a voice behind her, and May whirled around. Standing in front of her was the daycare-lady, Miss Roxanne.

~-~

"This is all your fault!"

May was NOT happy. The other kids were out having fun, and where was she? Sitting next to stupid Bread-Head (technically, his name was Brendan, but he'd gotten her in trouble, so he was Bread-Head), who was ASLEEP again. Sheesh, stupid Bread-Head. She hated his guts.

"Hey."

May looked up sourly at the newcomer, some oversized four-year-old who was looking for someone to bully. "What do YOU want?"

As he was hardly as well-endowed as regarded his brains as his brawn, it was easy to discern what he'd come for; making fun of her (his force was directed mainly at May, as there was no real fun in making fun of a kid who did nothing but snore in reply). "Ah~ha, look at you! All stuck in time-out for blabbing!"

"Sh-shut up!" stuttered May, furious (in a calmer state of mind, she might've clasped her hands over her mouth in shock at the bad words she'd just uttered). "Go away!"

The bully laughed harder, his simple jabs getting sufficiently under May's skin to make her mad.

"Go away!" May had risen to her feet, and had managed to shove the bully back a few feet, only to stoke his displeasure.

"Now that wasn't nice," the bully rumbled, seizing a hold of May's wrist. "Say your sorry, or I'll tell teacher!"

May winced as he tightened his grip. "Leggo!"

"Say you're sorry!" demanded the bully. "You stupid girl, say-"

WHOOMPH.

May grasped and massaged her wrist, as it had been freed from the clutches of the mean boy. This seemed to have occured because the boy had had his attention grabbed by someone else. May looked over to see Bread-Head staring down somberly at the bully (whom he had actually tossed over his shoulder), who wasn't sure whether to remain silent or burst into tears, finding an unsteady compromise in whimpering.

"Don't wake me up," mumbled Bread-Head, sitting back down. "And leave her 'lone."

The bully, recognizing good advice, proceeded to skedaddle, and May sat back down beside Brendan, looking at him curiously.

"May?"

Miss Roxanne had showed up again. "Time Out's over, you know. You can leave and go play."

May looked out at the playground, and then back up at Miss Roxanne.

"Umm... is it okay if I just sit here?" she asked.

Roxanne, surprised, shrugged and walked away. Finally in blessed peace, May looked over at the once-again snoozing Bread-Head.

Maybe... Just maybe, she might get to know him better.


End file.
